Akebia Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of therapeutics for patients with kidney diseases. Its product portfolio includes Vafseo (vadadustat), an oral hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase, for the treatment of anemia due to chronic kidney disease (CKD) in dialysis-dependent (DD) and non-dialysis dependent (NDD) patients; and Auryxia, a ferric citrate that is used to control …
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Competitive advantage assessment
Key strengths
ROIC Sustainably Above PeersROIC at 95.1th percentile exceeds peers and WACC, demonstrating superior capital allocation.
Scale Supporting ProfitabilityProfitability at scale is strong (score 0.77), demonstrating competitive advantages.
Key risks
Revenue Volatility Signals Weak StickinessRevenue volatility is high (stability score 0.34), suggesting weak customer stickiness.
Volatile Margins Suggest CyclicalityMargin volatility is high (stability score 0.37), suggesting cyclical exposure or competitive pressure.
The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks
against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.
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Where AKBA ranks in Drug Manufacturers - Specialty & Generic
Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. ranks #17 of 91
scored companies in Drug Manufacturers - Specialty & Generic by moat score — the top 19%.
The widest moat in the group is Zoetis Inc. (ZTS)
at 85/100.
Moat scores for companies ranked near AKBA in Drug Manufacturers - Specialty & Generic
Pricing power is the ability to raise prices without losing volume.
Cost Advantage
Score 58
· 15% of the moat score
A cost advantage means delivering the same product for structurally less — better purchasing, denser distribution, a more automated process.
Customer Stickiness
Score 69
· 15% of the moat score
Stickiness is what makes revenue repeat without being re-won every year.
Capital Efficiency
Score 70
· 18% of the moat score
Capital efficiency asks what the company earns on the money tied up in the business.
Resilience
Score 67
· 17% of the moat score
Resilience is the capacity to get through a bad year on its own terms — enough liquidity, enough interest cover, and enough cash generation to avoid a rescue financing or a forced sale.
Scale & Market Position
Score 78
· 15% of the moat score
Scale matters only when it converts into economics.
Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (AKBA) scores 67 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as moderate. It ranks #17 of 91 scored companies in Drug Manufacturers - Specialty & Generic, the top 19%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 90 companies in Drug Manufacturers - Specialty & Generic. Its strongest defense is Scale & Market Position (78/100) and its weakest is Cost Advantage (58/100).
How does Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. compare with other Drug Manufacturers - Specialty & Generic companies?
Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. ranks #17 of 91 scored companies in Drug Manufacturers - Specialty & Generic by moat score. The widest moat in Drug Manufacturers - Specialty & Generic is Zoetis Inc. (ZTS) at 85/100. The companies ranked closest are Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd (RDY) at 67 just above it and Indivior PLC (INDV) at 67 just below it.
How is the moat score calculated?
Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — Corporate Default in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 90 companies in Drug Manufacturers - Specialty & Generic. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.
Why is Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. scored with the Corporate Default template?
Most public companies sell a product or a service at a margin, so the moat question is whether that margin survives contact with competitors. The Corporate template scores the six defenses that show up in a general operating company's financial signature: whether it can hold price, produce more cheaply than rivals, keep its customers, earn a return above its cost of capital, withstand a downturn, and turn size into economics.
Which competitive defenses are measured for Akebia Therapeutics, Inc.?
The Corporate Default template measures 6 defenses, and AKBA scores: Pricing Power (61), Cost Advantage (58), Customer Stickiness (69), Capital Efficiency (70), Resilience (67), Scale & Market Position (78). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.
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