John P. Butler has been appointed president and chief executive officer Akebia Therapeutics. Mr. Butler succeeds Joseph Gardner, Ph.D., who will remain as an advisor for the company. In addition to this appointment, Akebia will establish a corporate office in the Boston area, while its R&D office and activities will remain in Cincinnati.
 
Mr. Butler was most recently served as chief executive officer of Inspiration Biopharmaceuticals. Prior to that, he held several positions at Genzyme Corp., including president of the Cardiometabolic and Renal Division. Under his leadership, the renal division grew from $150 million to more than $1 billion in annual revenue. Mr. Butler has also held commercial positions at Amgen and Hoffmann-La Roche.
 
“We are thrilled to have a tremendous talent like John joining Akebia as its new CEO. This is an exciting time for Akebia, as we begin planning to bring AKB-6548 to market. John’s experience commercializing products for the renal market will be critical for the Company as it moves forward. I look forward to working with John through the transition and as an advisor to Akebia,” said Mr. Gardner, who will lead Aerpio, a company that was spun out of Aekbia in 2012.