Bill Lis is CEO of Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a South San Francisco-based company that trades under “PTLA” on the Nasdaq. Bill joined Portola in 2008. Under his leadership, Portola has advanced several novel compounds into clinical development, executed multiple partnerships, raised over $300 million, and, in 2013, completed an IPO. Want to know how to take your startup public? Bill will tell us what he’s learned from leading Portola.

Speaker bio

Mr. Lis joined Portola in 2008 and was appointed chief executive officer in May 2010. During this time, Portola has advanced several novel compounds into clinical development, successfully raised over $300 million in private and public financings, including an initial public offering in 2013, and executed multiple partnerships for its programs. Portola’s two wholly-owned thrombosis programs, betrixaban and andexanet alfa, are in late-stage clinical trials, and its wholly-owned hematologic oncology agent, cerdulatinib, is in a Phase 1/2 proof-of-concept study in patients with hematologic cancers.