Portola Pharmaceuticals to Support New American Heart Association Initiative to Address Hemorrhagic Stroke

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Dec. 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc.^® (Nasdaq: PTLA) today announced its support of the American Heart Association^®/American Stroke Association's^® newest initiative for enhanced awareness and understanding of best care practices for hemorrhagic stroke, or severe bleeding in the brain.

Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), or hemorrhagic strokes, make up about 10 percent of the 795,000 stroke cases per year. On average, someone in the United States has a stroke every 40 seconds. A hemorrhagic stroke occurs when a weakened blood vessel ruptures and spills blood into the brain. When a stroke occurs, immediate treatment may minimize the long-term effects of a stroke and even prevent death.

"We're proud to support the American Heart Association's education efforts around best practices for treating this life-threatening condition," said Scott Garland, Portola's president and chief executive officer. "We believe in the potential of the new best practices initiative from the Association to make a significant impact on the national awareness of hemorrhagic stroke—a critical component in helping to empower healthcare providers to deliver the highest level of quality patient care possible."

Stroke costs the United States an estimated $45.5 billion each year, including direct and indirect costs such as health care services, medicines to treat stroke and missed days of work, according to the American Heart Association.

"We're pleased to announce this new initiative with support from Portola, which builds on our Get With The Guidelines^® hospital-based quality improvement program," said John Meiners, chief of mission aligned businesses and healthcare solutions for the American Heart Association. "The combined efforts will allow us to further provide hemorrhagic stroke education in the hopes that it will help physicians in saving patient lives and hastening recovery."

Get With The Guidelines^® (GWTG) is a hospital-based quality improvement program from the American Heart Association with tools and resources to increase adherence to the latest research-based guidelines. The premise of the GWTG programs is when medical professionals apply the most up-to-date evidence-based treatment guidelines, patient outcomes are improved. 

More information about this initiative will be announced at the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's annual International Stroke Conference, February 18-21, 2020.

About Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Portola Pharmaceuticals is a global, commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of novel therapeutics that could significantly advance the fields of thrombosis and other hematologic conditions. The Company's first two commercialized products are Andexxa^® [coagulation factor Xa (recombinant), inactivated-zhzo], marketed in Europe as Ondexxya^® (andexanet alfa), and Bevyxxa^® (betrixaban). The company also is advancing cerdulatinib, a SYK/JAK inhibitor being developed for the treatment of hematologic cancers. Founded in 2003 in South San Francisco, California, Portola has operations in the United States and Europe. 

 

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