Portola Pharmaceuticals

Portola Pharmaceuticals is an American clinical stage biotechnology company that researches, develops and commercializes drugs. The company focuses primarily on drugs used in the treatment of thrombosis and hematological malignancies.[2]

Portola Pharmaceuticals

Type	Public[1]
Traded as	NASDAQ: PTLA Russell 2000 Index component
Industry	Pharmaceuticals
Fate	Acquired by Alexion Pharmaceuticals
Founded	2003
Founders	Charles J. Homcy, David R. Philips
Headquarters	South San Francisco, California, United States
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Scott Garland (CEO)[1]
Products	Andexxa Bevyxxa Cerdulatinib
Revenue	$ 40,130 (2018)[1]
Number of employees	324 (2018)[1]
Subsidiaries	Portola Pharma UK Limited
Website	portola.com

Headquartered and founded in South San Francisco, California, Portola Pharmaceuticals is a member of the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index.

In May 2020, Alexion Pharmaceuticals and Portola announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement for Alexion to acquire Portola.[3]

History

The company was founded on September, 2, 2003 and named after Gaspar de Portolà, who was the first european to see San Francisco Bay. It completed IPO on NASDAQ in May 2013.

The company developed P2Y₁₂ inhibitor Elinogrel transferring rights to Novartis in 2009.[4] The rights were returned to Portola in 2012, which decided not to continue development.

Currently Portola Pharmaceuticals has collaboration agreements with SRX Cardio, Dermavant, Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Daiichi Sankyo, Bayer, Janssen, BMS and Pfizer.[5]

Products

• Andexanet alfa (Andexxa), a coagulation factor Xa (recombinant), inactivated-zhzo, the first and only antidote for patients treated with the new oral anticoagulants (NOAKs) rivaroxaban and apixaban when a reversal of anticoagulation is required due to life-threatening or uncontrolled bleeding. Andexanet is not indicated for the treatment of bleeding related to any FXa inhibitors other than apixaban and rivaroxaban. Approved by FDA in May, 2018.[6] In February 2019, the European CHMP of EMA recommended the granting of a conditional marketing authorisation for Andexanet alfa (in EU: Ondexxya).[7] In April 2019 the European Commission granted the authorisation (approved) Andexanet for the 28 countries of the EU.[8]
• Betrixaban (Bevyxxa), an oral direct FXa inhibitor for prevention of thrombosis; approved by FDA in June, 2017.[9]
• Cerdulatinib, an investigational - not approved - oral multikinase SYK/JAK inhibitor for hematological malignancies and topical use; granted Orphan drug status for PTCL by FDA in September, 2018.[10]

References

1. "FORM 10-K For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2018". portola.com. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
2. "Corporate site". portola.com. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
3. Alexion to Acquire Portola, businesswire.com, Retrieved 05 May 2020.
4. "Novartis gains worldwide rights to elinogrel, a Phase II anti-clotting compound". www.pharmanews.eu. Retrieved 2018-11-03.
5. "Collaborations, Portola Website". Retrieved 11 May 2019.
6. "FDA Approval Letter - ANDEXXA, May 3, 2018". fda.gov. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
7. "EMA Positive Opinion - ONDEXXYA, March 1, 2019". ema.europa.eu. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
8. "European Commission Grants Conditional Marketing Authorization for Portola Pharmaceuticals' Ondexxya™ (andexanet alfa), the First and Only Antidote for the Reversal of Factor Xa Inhibitors, PM Portola, April 26, 2019". portola.com. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
9. "FDA approved betrixaban (BEVYXXA, Portola) for the prophylaxis of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in adult patients, FDA, June 23, 2017". fda.gov. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
10. "NASDAQ: Portola's (PTLA) Lymphoma Candidate Gets Orphan Drug Status, September 26, 2018". nasdaq.com. Retrieved 11 May 2019.