South San Francisco-based Portola Pharmaceuticals said today that Merck has agreed to return the full commercial rights to betrixaban to Portola. The drug is designed to stop excessive blood clotting to prevent strokes in patients with an abnormal heartbeat known as atrial fibrillation. Merck said it made the decision to part ways with the drug after a review of its portfolio. Portola CEO William Lis said in a statement that the move represents a “transformational opportunity,” for Portola.
Author: Luke Timmerman
Luke is an award-winning journalist specializing in life sciences. He has served as national biotechnology editor for Xconomy and national biotechnology reporter for Bloomberg News. Luke got started covering life sciences at The Seattle Times, where he was the lead reporter on an investigation of doctors who leaked confidential information about clinical trials to investors. The story won the Scripps Howard National Journalism Award and several other national prizes. Luke holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and during the 2005-2006 academic year, he was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT.
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