– USA, CA – Portola Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:PTLA) today announced the appointment of John H. Johnson to its board of directors effective March 26, 2014. Mr. Johnson currently serves as chairman, president and chief executive officer of Dendreon Corporation.
“We’re thrilled to add John, a prestigious industry leader, to the Portola Board. John’s strategic capabilities and his experience in oncology and biologics manufacturing will serve Portola well as we advance our potential groundbreaking drugs through late stage development and commercialization,” said William Lis, chief executive officer of Portola. “Personally, I’m pleased to be working with John again, having had prior success under his leadership at Johnson & Johnson with the anticoagulant XARELTO.”
“I am delighted to join Portola’s board of directors at such an exciting time in the Company’s history. Portola has successfully advanced three innovative pipeline products into the clinic setting that may significantly improve the care of patients with blood clots and blood cancers,” said John H. Johnson. “I look forward to leveraging my experience in launching and commercializing innovative products to help Portola independently further its wholly-owned assets and create value for its shareholders.”
Mr. Johnson’s career in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry spans more than 30 years. Prior to joining Dendreon, Mr. Johnson was chief executive officer and a member of the board of directors of Savient Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Before that, he served as president of Eli Lilly & Company’s Oncology Unit, following the company’s acquisition of Imclone Systems, Inc., for which he served as chief executive officer. Prior to Imclone, he was the company group chairman of Johnson & Johnson’s biopharmaceuticals unit, where he was responsible for the biotechnology, immunology and oncology commercial businesses. Mr. Johnson has also held several executive positions at Johnson & Johnson, Parkstone Medical Information Systems, Inc. and Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical Corp., as well as positions at Pfizer, Inc. Mr. Johnson is the former chairman of Tranzyme Pharma, Inc. He is currently a member of the board of directors of Cempra Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Histogenics. He also serves as a member of the board of directors of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) and a member of the Health Section Governing Board of Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO).
About Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Portola Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company developing product candidates that have the potential to represent significant advances in the fields of thrombosis and hematology. The Company is advancing its three wholly-owned programs using novel biomarker and genetic approaches that may increase the likelihood of clinical, regulatory and commercial success of its first-in-class therapies.
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