Portola partners with J&J, Bayer on bloodthinner antidote

Portola Pharmaceuticals has signed on to see if its antidote to Factor Xa inhibitors--PRT4445--will help make the blood-thinner Xarelto safer. Xarelto's owners, Bayer and J&J, will pay Portola an unspecified sum in the deal, which follows a similar pact struck with Pfizer ($PFE) and Bristol-Myers Squibb ($BMY) for their blood-thinner. In both cases Portola held on to worldwide rights for the drug. Story