Akebia Drops Bid to Bar AstraZeneca From Anemia Drug Patent Suit

Akebia Therapeutics Inc. and Otsuka Holdings Co. dropped a lawsuit seeking a Delaware federal court’s judgment that Vafseo, a proposed treatment for anemia associated with chronic kidney disease, doesn’t infringe 12 patents owned by FibroGen Inc. and exclusively licensed to AstraZeneca PLC.

Akebia and Otsuka, partners in Vafseo’s U.S. marketing and sales, said FibroGen and AstraZeneca hadn’t answered the complaint or filed a motion for summary judgment, according to a notice of voluntary dismissal without prejudice filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware.

In a concurrent filing, Akebia and Otsuka said the timing ...