SPOTLIGHT: Portola gains $20M

Portola Pharmaceuticals of Palo Alto, CA has gained $20 million in new funds from Hercules Technology Growth Capital. "Portola has achieved many significant milestones in building a pipeline of antithrombotic drug candidates," said Kathy Conte, managing director of life sciences at Hercules. "Currently, the company has two drug candidates in clinical development--an oral Factor Xa inhibitor in a Phase II trial for the prevention of deep vein thrombosis in patients undergoing knee surgery, and a direct acting, orally available ADP receptor antagonist in multiple Phase I trials. In addition to its clinical pipeline, Portola has a robust drug discovery platform focused on the platelet and signaling pathways that mediate inflammation and thrombosis." Release