Portola Pharmaceuticals Supports 2017 World Thrombosis Day Campaign to Raise Awareness about the Persistent Risk of Blood Clo...
October 11 2017 - 4:05PM
Portola Pharmaceuticals Inc.® (Nasdaq:PTLA) announced today that it
will be serving as a global partner for World Thrombosis Day to
help raise awareness of the incidence, risks and potentially
life-threatening complications of thrombosis.
World Thrombosis Day, observed on October 13, is an annual event
led by the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis
(ISTH) and is carried out by more than 1,000 organizations
representing 85 countries worldwide. The focus for World Thrombosis
Day 2017 is Know Thrombosis, which encourages healthcare
professionals, key decision makers and the public to know the risk
factors, signs and symptoms of the condition.
“VTE is preventable with the proper prevention and treatment
procedures. We are committed to our partnership with World
Thrombosis Day and ISTH to raise awareness to help reduce death and
disability caused by this condition,” said John Curnutte, MD, PhD,
Executive Vice President, Research and Development at Portola.
“We encourage the healthcare community to join the World
Thrombosis Day movement to make VTE prevention a priority.”
Venous thromboembolism (VTE), also known as a blood clot, is a
leading cause of death and disability worldwide. Patients
hospitalized for serious, common medical conditions (i.e., acutely
ill medical patients) are at increased risk for VTE. In the G7
countries, an estimated 24 million acutely ill medical patients are
hospitalized each year and are at risk of VTE, either while in the
hospital or following discharge. More than one million VTE events
and 150,000 VTE-related deaths occur annually in acutely ill
medical patients in the G7 countries, despite the standard use of
injectable enoxaparin and other heparins in the hospital. More than
half of VTE events occur after patients are discharged from the
hospital.
“Our partners are critical in helping to expand the reach of
World Thrombosis Day and we are proud to partner with Portola for
the third straight year,” said Gary Raskob, PhD, Chairman of the
World Thrombosis Day Steering Committee; Dean, College of Public
Health, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. “WTD is a
timely opportunity to discuss, update or establish your
organization’s VTE policy. Preventing clots is a patient safety
issue and should be a standard of care for all hospitalized
patients. Policies should engage all staff involved in patient care
and strive for high compliance.”
Recent advances in the field of thrombosis have led to the
development of novel oral anticoagulants (NOACs) to prevent and
treat VTEs. NOACs are predominantly comprised of a class of drugs
called Factor Xa inhibitors, which are indicated to prevent stroke
and blood clots in people with atrial fibrillation; to treat and
prevent deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE); and
to prevent DVT, which may lead to PE, following hip or knee
replacement surgery. In the United States, an estimated 2.5 million
people will be treated with a Factor Xa inhibitor this year. The
number of patients on Factor Xa inhibitors is currently growing at
a rapid rate of approximately 45 percent year-over-year.
About World Thrombosis DayLaunched in 2014 and
held annually on October 13, World Thrombosis Day (WTD) aims to
increase public, healthcare professional and health care systems’
awareness of thrombosis and, ultimately, to reduce deaths and
disabilities from thromboembolic disease through a greater
awareness of its causes, risk factors, signs and symptoms, and
evidence-based prevention and treatment. WTD’s mission supports the
World Health Assembly's global target of reducing premature deaths
by non-communicable disease by 25 percent by 2025, as well as the
WHO global action plan for the prevention and control of
non-communicable diseases in the 2013-2020 timeframe. Portola
Pharmaceuticals and many others are proud sponsors of WTD 2017.
Visit www.worldthrombosisday.org for more information.
About the ISTHFounded in 1969, the
International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH) is the
leading worldwide not-for-profit organization dedicated to
advancing the understanding, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of
thrombotic and bleeding disorders. The ISTH is an international
membership organization with nearly 4,000 clinicians, researchers
and educators working together to improve the lives of patients in
more than 94 countries around the world. Among its highly regarded
activities and initiatives are education and standardization
programs, research activities, meetings and conferences,
peer-reviewed publications and expert committees. Visit ISTH online
at www.isth.org.
About Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
® Portola Pharmaceuticals is a
biopharmaceutical company developing product candidates that could
significantly advance the fields of thrombosis and other
hematologic diseases. The Company’s first medicine
Bevyxxa® (betrixaban), an oral, once-daily Factor
Xa inhibitor, was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
in June 2017. The company is also working to advance two clinical
programs for AndexXa™ (andexanet alfa), a recombinant protein
designed to reverse the anticoagulant effect in patients treated
with an oral or injectable Factor Xa inhibitor; and cerdulatinib, a
SYK/JAK inhibitor in development to treat hematologic cancers.
Portola's partnered program is focused on developing selective SYK
inhibitors for inflammatory conditions. For more information,
visit http://www.portola.com and follow the Company on Twitter
@Portola_Pharma.
Forward-looking StatementsStatements contained
in this press release regarding matters that are not historical
facts are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Because such
statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, actual results
may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements. Such statements include, but are not
limited to, cerdulatinib’s potential as a treatment for hematologic
cancers and the potential of Portola’s other product candidates.
Risks that contribute to the uncertain nature of the
forward-looking statements include: failure to
obtain FDA and/or EMA approval for one or more of our
product candidates, regulatory developments in the United
States and foreign countries; our expectation that we will
incur losses for the foreseeable future and will need additional
funds to finance our operations; the accuracy of our estimates
regarding our ability to initiate and/or complete our clinical
trials and the timing and expense of these trials; the results of
our clinical trials related to the efficacy and safety of our
product candidates; our potential inability to manufacture our
product candidates on a commercial scale in a timely or
cost-efficient manner; the accuracy of our estimates regarding
expenses and capital requirements; our ability to successfully
build a hospital-based sales force and commercial infrastructure;
our ability to obtain and maintain intellectual property protection
for our product candidates; and our ability to retain key
scientific or management personnel. These and other risks and
uncertainties are described more fully in our most recent filings
with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our
most recent quarterly report on Form 10-Q. All forward-looking
statements contained in this press release speak only as of the
date on which they were made. We undertake no obligation to update
such statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that
exist after the date on which they were made.
Investor Contact:
Michele Mantynen Portola Pharmaceuticals
ir@portola.com
Media Contact: Patrick Ryan W2O Group
pryan@w2ogroup.com
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