Akebia adds Dr. Victor Dzau, Duke Health CEO, to board of directors

CINCNNATI, Ohio — Dr. Victor Dzau, the president and CEO of the Duke University Health System, has joined the board of directors of Akebia Therapeutics.

This adds heavyweight talent to some significant fund-raising by Akebia. Last month it announced a total $25 million Series A equity round — $10 million more than expected — ahead of Phase I clinical trials on an oral medication designed to create new red blood cells in anemia patients.

“Dr. Dzau is one of the country’s leading experts on health care and his extensive knowledge and thoughtful approach will be invaluable to the company,” Akebia President and CEO Joseph Gardner stated in a press release (pdf). “We look forward to his input on our lead program, our oral, small molecule HIF-PH inhibitor for anemia.”

Akebia called Dzao a pioneer in gene therapy for vascular disease. His research on the renin-angiotensin system (RAS), which regulates blood pressure, is credited with helping understand the role of the system in cardiovascular disease and develop RAS-based drugs.

Dzao has lead the Duke University Health System since 2004, and he’s also on the board of directors of Medtronic, Genzyme and Alynlam Pharmaceuticals. He’s previously served as chairman of the Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and chairman of the Department of Medicine at Stanford University.

There’s a significant amount of video on Dzau and you can see him discuss global health collaboration or the future of health care.