SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Nov. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Portola Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company developing innovative drugs that provide significant advances in cardiovascular and inflammatory diseases, and cancer, today announced that data relevant to betrixaban, the company’s novel oral Factor Xa inhibitor and PRT060128, its novel ADP receptor antagonist, will be presented at the American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions 2008. The conference will be held at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, LA during November 8-12, 2008.
“We have important data being presented at AHA that demonstrate the potential of our differentiated Phase II compounds that address major unmet needs in preventing and treating thrombosis,” said Charles Homcy, M.D., president and chief executive officer of Portola. “In particular, data from Dr. Paul Gurbel show how our antiplatelet agent may be effective in a high percentage of patients who do not respond adequately to clopidogrel, the current standard of care. Additionally, data being presented will show that our two Phase II agents, PRT060128 and betrixaban, our oral once-daily FXa inhibitor, may work in combination to inhibit thrombosis without raising bleeding risk. Together these data highlight some of the unique properties of our lead antithrombotic compounds.”
About Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Portola Pharmaceuticals develops innovative therapeutics based on targets with established proof of concept that are engineered to provide significant advances over current treatments for cardiovascular and inflammatory diseases and cancer.
Portola’s two lead Phase II compounds, betrixaban, an oral Factor Xa inhibitor and PRT060128, an ADP receptor antagonist, target the global multi- billion dollar antithrombotic market. Both product candidates have best-in- class features versus current and novel agents in development and address the hospital, specialty, and chronic care markets. The Company’s earlier-stage programs are leveraging its chemistry and kinase expertise to develop specific Syk and JAK inhibitors to treat cancer and inflammatory diseases with broader activity. The company also has a novel anticoagulant antidote program with the potential to help manage the more than 20 million patients expected to be treated with anticoagulants worldwide in the next decade. For additional information, visit http://www.portola.com.
CONTACT: Mardi Dier, CFO of Portola Pharmaceuticals, +1-650-246-7236,
mdier@portola.com; or Julie Normart of Invigorate Communications,
+1-415-946-1087, jnormart@invigoratepr.com, for Portola Pharmaceuticals
Web site: http://www.portola.com/
