Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Files for $115 Million IPO

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - April 12, 2013) - Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that it has filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission relating to a proposed initial public offering of its common stock. The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the offering have not yet been determined.

Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse are acting as the joint book-running managers for the offering. Cowen and Company and William Blair are acting as co-managers. This offering will be made only by means of a prospectus. A copy of the preliminary prospectus, when available, may be obtained from the offices of Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Attention: Prospectus Department, 180 Varick Street, 2nd Floor, New York, New York 10014, or by email at prospectus@morganstanley.com or Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, Attention: Prospectus Department, One Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10010, by email at newyork.prospectus@credit-suisse.com or by toll-free call to (800) 221-1037.

Although a registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, it has not yet become effective. These securities may not be sold nor may offers to buy be accepted prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

About Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Portola is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of novel therapeutics in the areas of thrombosis, other hematologic disorders and inflammation for patients who currently have limited or no approved treatment options. Portola’s current development-stage portfolio consists of three compounds discovered through its internal research efforts and one discovered by Portola scientists during their time at a prior company.

Portola’s two lead programs address significant unmet medical needs in the area of thrombosis, or blood clots. Portola’s lead compound Betrixaban is a novel oral once-daily inhibitor of Factor Xa in Phase 3 development for extended duration prophylaxis, or preventive treatment, of a form of thrombosis known as venous thromboembolism, or VTE, in acute medically ill patients. Currently, there is no anticoagulant approved for extended duration VTE prophylaxis in this population.

Portola’s second lead development candidate, PRT4445, is a recombinant protein designed to reverse the anticoagulant activity in patients treated with a Factor Xa inhibitor who suffer an uncontrolled bleeding episode or undergo emergency surgery. Portola has entered into a collaboration agreement with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and Pfizer Inc. and a collaboration agreement with Bayer Pharma AG and Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to study PRT4445 with ELIQUIS® and XARELTO®, respectively, in Portola’s Phase 2 study. Portola retains full, worldwide commercial rights with respect to PRT4445.

Portola’s third product candidate, PRT2070, is an orally available kinase inhibitor being developed for hematologic, or blood, cancers and inflammatory disorders. PRT2070 inhibits spleen tyrosine kinase, or Syk, and janus kinases, or JAK, enzymes that regulate important signaling pathways. Subject to regulatory approval, Portola plans to initiate a Phase 1/2 clinical study of PRT2070 in 2013 in patients with B-cell hematologic cancers who have failed or relapsed on existing marketed therapies or products in development, including patients with identified mutations. Portola’s fourth product candidate, PRT2607, is a highly selective inhibitor of Syk and is being developed by Portola’s partner Biogen Idec Inc. for inflammatory disorders.