The Biotech Forum 3 Small Biotechs After Pullback | Page 4

Name: Portola Pharmaceuticals (PTLA)
Market Cap: $1.1 billion
Stock Price: $19.50 a share
52-week high: $52.50 a share
Median Analyst Price Target: $30.50 a share
Cash On Hand: ~$350 million

Primary Drug: The company’s primary drug candidate is called Andexxa. This would the first universal antidote to the new group of anti-coagulants that have rapidly replaced old line anti-coagulants like warfarin. The stock has dropped some 30% recently after Andexxa received a Complete Response Letter (CRL) from the FDA. Based on the clarification in a follow up conference call with management, it seems the main concerns however are around manufacturing issues and clarification on the interaction around a couple of lesser known anticoagulants but not the major ones like Eliquis and Xarelto.

Other Factors: I expect the company to address the manufacturing issues within the CRL from the FDA and resubmit the New Drug Application for Andexxa by the end of 2016 at the latest, which should be a positive catalyst for the stock. This is a drug the industry wants as some 80,000 people annually wind up in the hospital or emergency room just in the United States due to ill effects from these new anti-coagulants.

The company also has a couple other compounds in its developmental pipeline including its own new-age anti-coagulant. Portola is well-funded and is another name that frequently the subject of possible buyout rumors, with Pfizer (PFE) being mentioned on more than one occasion as a logical suitor.