Scott Garland will become president and CEO of Portola Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:PTLA]]) effective Oct. 8. Garland will also join the South San Francisco, CA, company’s board of directors. Garland is coming to Portola from Redwood City, CA-based Relypsa, where he has served as president, and prior to that, chief commercial officer. Portola began looking for a new chief executive in June after longtime CEO Bill Lis announced he would retire. Under Lis’ tenure, Portola won FDA approval for blood clot drug betrixaban (Bevyxxa), and andexanet alfa (Andexxa), a drug that reverses the effects of blood thinners.
