Organization	6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2019
Organization Consolidation And Presentation Of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Organization	1. Organization Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc.^® (the “Company” or “we” or “our” or “us”) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of novel therapeutics in the areas of thrombosis, other hematologic diseases and inflammation for patients who currently have limited or no approved treatment options. We were incorporated in September 2003 in Delaware. We have operations in the United States and in select countries in Europe, with headquarters in South San Francisco, California. We operate in one segment. We refer to our two approved drugs in this report as Andexxa^® and Bevyxxa^®. If approved outside of the United States, each drug may be marketed under different brand names. For example, andexanet alfa received conditional approval under the brand name Ondexxya^®by the European Commission (“EC”) on April 26, 2019. In addition, an international nonproprietary name (“INN”) has been designated for each drug. Our previous INN for Andexxa was andexanet alfa; however, in the United States this INN has been replaced with “coagulation factor Xa (recombinant), inactivated-zhzo.” For the European Union (“EU”) and other parts of the world, andexanet alfa could remain the INN for Andexxa. Our use of Andexxa or Bevyxxa in this document in the context of continued development activities for which we have not yet received regulatory approval should not be read to imply that we have received regulatory approval for any indication or in any jurisdiction not reflected in our product labels.

Organization

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2019

Organization Consolidation And Presentation Of Financial Statements [Abstract]

1. Organization

Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc.^® (the “Company” or “we” or “our” or “us”) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of novel therapeutics in the areas of thrombosis, other hematologic diseases and inflammation for patients who currently have limited or no approved treatment options. We were incorporated in September 2003 in Delaware. We have operations in the United States and in select countries in Europe, with headquarters in South San Francisco, California. We operate in one segment.

We refer to our two approved drugs in this report as Andexxa^® and Bevyxxa^®. If approved outside of the United States, each drug may be marketed under different brand names. For example, andexanet alfa received conditional approval under the brand name Ondexxya^®by the European Commission (“EC”) on April 26, 2019. In addition, an international nonproprietary name (“INN”) has been designated for each drug. Our previous INN for Andexxa was andexanet alfa; however, in the United States this INN has been replaced with “coagulation factor Xa (recombinant), inactivated-zhzo.” For the European Union (“EU”) and other parts of the world, andexanet alfa could remain the INN for Andexxa. Our use of Andexxa or Bevyxxa in this document in the context of continued development activities for which we have not yet received regulatory approval should not be read to imply that we have received regulatory approval for any indication or in any jurisdiction not reflected in our product labels.