For those of you tracking the growing numbers of huge deals between the Bay Area’s formidable array of biotech companies and those gargantuan drug firms known as Big Pharma, here’s yet another:

Portola Pharmaceuticals of South San Francisco and New Jersey-based drug powerhouse Merck announced Thursday that they will collaborate on developing Portola’s anticoagulant drug candidate, betrixaban.

The payoff for Portola: a cool $50 million initially, with the possibility of $420 million more if certain milestones are met for getting the drug onto the market. In addition, Portola could earn double-digit royalties on worldwide sales of the drug, assuming the government approves its commercialization..

Steve Johnson Steve Johnson (105 Posts)