Akebia Therapeutics Reports Inducement Grants Under Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4)

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: AKBA), a biopharmaceutical company focused on delivering innovative therapies to patients with kidney disease through the biology of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF), granted four newly-hired employees options to purchase an aggregate of 25,400 shares of Akebia’s common stock on October 31, 2018, as inducements material to each such employee’s entering into employment with Akebia. The options were granted in accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4).

The options have an exercise price of $7.49 per share, which is equal to the closing price of Akebia’s common stock on the grant date. Each stock option vests over four years, with 25% of the shares vesting on the first anniversary of the grant date and the remaining 75% of shares vesting quarterly thereafter, in each case, subject to the new employee’s continued service with the company. Each stock option has a 10-year term and is subject to the terms and conditions of the company’s Inducement Award Program and a stock option agreement covering the grant.

About Akebia Therapeutics

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, focused on delivering innovative therapies to patients with kidney disease through hypoxia-inducible factor biology. For more information, please visit our website at www.akebia.com, which does not form a part of this release.

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Akebia TherapeuticsJohn Garabo, 617-844-6130Director, Corporate [e-mail]