Akebia Therapeutics Inc.'s president and CEO, John Butler, told investors during a Monday conference call that it was the company's goal to find a Japanese partner for phase III-ready vadadustat, an oral therapy for the treatment of anemia related to chronic kidney disease (CKD), by the end of 2015. With two weeks to spare, the Cambridge, Mass.-based firm inked a deal with Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corp. (MTPC) that Butler said hits the target, "both strategically and financially."