Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced the appointment of industry veteran Scott Garland as president and chief executive officer, effective October 8, 2018. Mr. Garland brings to his new role more than two decades of broad executive leadership experience, including a strong track record driving multiple billion dollar product launches. He will also serve on the Company's Board of Directors.

Mr. Garland joins Portola from Relypsa, Inc., where he was president and previously chief commercial officer. During his tenure, Mr. Garland was responsible for the integration and growth of the U.S. operations after Relypsa was acquired by Vifor Pharma Group in 2016. Prior to Relypsa, Mr. Garland was executive vice president and chief commercial officer of Exelixis, Inc., where he led global commercial operations and directed sales, marketing and market access in the United States.

Previously, Mr. Garland spent close to a decade at Genentech leading full scale commercial franchises for two multi-billion dollar therapies – Avastin® (bevacizumab) and Rituxan® (rituximab). He started his career at Merck as a sales representative and then went on to serve at Amgen in various sales and marketing roles, including market development, to support the launch of Aranesp® (darbepoetin alfa).