Alexion to Acquire Portola Alexion (ALXN) and Portola (PTLA) entered into a definitive merger agreement and Alexion acquired Portola. The Terms of the Merger A subsidiary of Alexion will commence a tender offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Portola’s common stock at a price of $18 per share in cash. The tender offer is subject to customary conditions including the tender of …

The Week in Review #41 We Are Still Witnessing … The bizarre market performance that started in early 2019: In the past couple of months the great enthusiasm and response of the market to the undeniably strong economic indicators and the lowest unemployment figures turned, for mysterious reasons, to a perturbed-looking volatile market beast. The biotech stocks have given back most of their deserved gains …

Akari Therapeutics Stock Rallied Autoimmune and inflammatory disease treatments are works in progress with some approved products demonstrating remarkable efficacy. Still there are untreated inflammatory diseases, among them are those where the complement (C5) and/or leukotriene (LTB4) systems are implicated. Akari Therapeutics (AKTX) is a small biopharmaceutical company focused on therapeutics for the orphan autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.The Company announced that the U.S. Food and …

 The News Prohost Was Waiting for to Post Its Special Letter Prohost has one eye on the development-stage biotech and biopharmaceutical companies' scientific fundamentals and accomplishments as well as the financial results on the revenue-generating firms. Prohost has the second eye on the market performance, its volatility and the possible reasons it sinks every other day, or every other week, in calmer days during a …

The Week in Review #38 SYNOPSIS Good News and Setbacks During the Departed Week from the Prohost Portfolio FIRMS WITH GOOD NEWS SPARK THERAPEUTICS The most important happening, with the most exciting positive impact, has come this time from our picked gene therapy company, Spark Therapeutics (ONCE). It was electrifying news, which announced acquisition by Roche (RHHBY) of Spark Therapeutics; at a price of $114.50 …

Portola Pharmaceuticals (PTLA) announced full results from ANNEXA-4, Phase 3b/4 trial of its Factor Xa inhibitor antidote Andexxa®  in patients experiencing acute major bleeding while taking a Factor Xa inhibitor. The data were presented at the International Stroke Conference 2019 and published simultaneously online by The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).  Full data from 352 patients showed that Andexxa rapidly, and significantly, reversed anti-Factor Xa activity when administered as a bolus and sustained …

Prohost Letter #426 End of the Year Decisions ~ Part 1 We decided to make this Prohost Letter a guideline of our opinion regarding all the firms we picked for the Prohost Portfolio, rather than the few firms that we promised to elaborate on in the Prohost Portfolio that we posted on January 1, 2019 at the Prohost Biotech website . . . This content …

The Week in Review #33 WE CALL IT THE BAD MARKET The Federal Reserve’s raising of the interest rate does not and should not mean a demise of the companies trading on the NASDAQ and other stock exchanges. The biotech group of firms with strong scientific fundamentals will not stop innovating and bringing breakthroughs to millions of people who are desperate for them if an …

Why Portola’s Stock Decline Everybody interested in Portola (PTLA) knows by now that this firm has managed to put two FDA-approved products on the market. They are: Bevyxxa® (betrixaban): The first and only once-daily oral Factor Xa inhibitor, for the prevention of deep vein thrombosis (DVT), that subject them to venous thromboembolism (VTE), which could have life-threatening lung embolism. Andexxa®: The first and only antidote for patients treated with rivaroxaban and apixaban when reversal …

Portola Pharmaceuticals Appoints Scott Garland as President and Chief Executive Officer, Effective October 8, 2018. Portola (PTLA) appointed a new president, Mr. Scott Garland, who was Relypsa’s president and previously chief commercial officer and responsible for the integration and growth of the U.S. operations after Relypsa was acquired by Vifor Pharma Group in 2016. Prior to Relypsa, Mr. Garland was executive vice president and chief commercial officer of Exelixis, Inc., …

The Week in Review #28 The approval of revolutionary products created by biotech firms with solid scientific fundamentals, superior scientists and advanced technologies is what motivates us to pick for investment biotech and biopharmaceutical firms. So, let’s see what has been approved in the parting week  from firms that we picked for investment.       IMPORTANT APPROVALS       Prohost Picked Firm     …

Portola (PTLA) has two important approved breakthrough products and an investigational product having promising results on very difficult-to-treat cancers. Instead of soaring following the approval of its two drugs and the good results coming from the investigational third drug, Portola’s stock took several dives, which raised the eyebrows of many investors and motivated more shareholders to sell PTLA. Let us see whether the firm deserves …

When the Goal is Reaching into the Future, Pessimists Have No Place on the Ship The revolution in the biotech sector has proven to be moving fast towards reaching goals that were impossible to imagine a couple of years ago that they could be attainable. This is not true only regarding lay investors, or desperate patients, but also regarding the most professional clinicians, researchers and …

All the buying and selling of Portola (PTLA) will not make any sense to us until the firm fulfills its obligations towards what is required by the authorities, by health care and by private third-party payers.  So, in the reporting of its Q2 financial results for the three months ending June 30, 2018, in addition to providing a corporate update, nothing matters really except knowing where the …

The Week in Review #22 What Went Right or Wrong in the Biotech Sector During the Departing Week? - A lot happened in the biotech sector during the week, which departed at midnight. Topping the list of the week’s events was the approval of Portola’s (PTLA) product  Andexxa . . . This content is for paid subscribers. Please click here to subscribe or here to log in.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Portola’s (PTLA) drug Andexxa®, the first and only antidote indicated for patients treated with rivaroxaban and apixaban, when reversal of anticoagulation is needed due to life-threatening or uncontrolled bleeding. Commenting on the approval, Stuart J. Connolly, M.D., ANNEXA-4 Executive Committee chairman and professor in the Department of Medicine of the Faculty of Health Sciences at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario said, “Today’s approval represents …

Prohost Letter #418 Observing Queer Stories  PORTOLA - Portola (PTLA) has been granted approval of an important factor Xa inhibitor Bevyxxa (betrixa-­ban for extended prophylaxis of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in acute medically ill patients with risk factors for a life-­threatening VTE . . . This content is for paid subscribers. Please click here to subscribe or here to log in.

Portola Pharmaceuticals and the CHMP’s Oral Explanations for Andexanet Alfa and Betrixaban Portola (PTLA) announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has communicated a positive trend vote on the Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) for Portola’s factor Xa inhibitor antidote andexanet alfa. The agency has also communicated a negative trend vote for betrixaban, the firm’s oral, Factor Xa inhibitor. Andexanet Alfa Bill Lis, the chief executive officer …

Prohost Letter #416 Part 1 The Year In Review - 2017 Unheard of Programs - AN AWESOME YEAR for the biotech sector regarding its accomplishments. Many of the accomplished programs were unheard of regarding the degree of their positive impact on medical practice. Unfortunately, many of these accomplishments, which included the making of new discoveries, the creation of novel advanced technologies and the design of …

After years of spending efforts in creating and developing its pipeline products, Portola (PTLA) has just been granted a U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of its Prior Approval Supplement (PAS) for the anticoagulant product Bevyxxa® (betrixaban). The product is approved ahead of its scheduled January 30th action date, which enables the release and distribution of its product inventory. Bevyxxa® is a factor Xa inhibitor approved on June 23, 2017 as a single-drug regimen for …