Reata Pharmaceuticals has shown that perseverance can pay off. Its lead project, bardoxolone, which is now focused on rare kidney diseases, is forecast to sell $1.3bn in 2024 after earlier flopping in a broader indication. The company should soon find out whether bardoxolone is approvable, with phase III data in the project’s first indication, Alport syndrome, due in the second half of the year. And Reata and analysts alike are confident after positive results from the phase II portion of the same study.