Portola Pharmaceuticals and Merck achieved positive results from EXPLORE-Xa, a Phase II dose finding study of investigational oral direct Factor Xa inhibitor betrixaban. Results showed that a once-daily dose of oral betrixaban, given to patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter and at least one risk factor for stroke, reduced the incidence of major and clinically relevant non-major (CRNM) bleeds compared to dose-adjusted warfarin. The multinational study of 508 patient...