R&D IN BRIEF

Portola marries Factor Xa clot buster off to Merck: Portola Pharmaceuticals licensed development and commercialization rights to its Phase II Factor Xa inhibitor betrixaban to Merck, granting Portola freedom to develop the rest of its pipeline while nurturing hopes for a public offering down the line. Announced July 9, the deal - for which Merck will pay $50 million upfront and another $420 million in milestone payments and double-digit royalties - is the second major collaboration this year for Portola, which sold rights for the anti-thrombotic elinogrel to Novartis for $75 million upfront plus another $500 million in milestones and undisclosed royalties (1"The Pink Sheet" DAILY, Feb. 12, 2009). Betrixaban could be the fourth direct thrombin inhibitor to reach the market, after Johnson & Johnson/Bayer's Xarelto, Boehringer Ingelheim's Pradaxa and Pfizer/Bristol-Myers Squibb's apixaban - though Portola has extolled it as a possible best-in-class anticoagulant option (2Pharmaceutical Approvals Monthly November 2008, p. 17). The deal also gives Merck a foothold in the race to develop an alternative to warfarin and Lovenox; the anti-thombotic field has become an active area for Big Pharmas seeking primary care assets (3Pharmauceutical Approvals Monthly October 2008, p. 3)