San Jose Biocenter, Thursday Afternoon, Sept. 2, 2010
Topic: “Startup Strategies: How to Maximize the Value of Your BioPharma IP”
SPEAKERS
• William Kezer, Partner, Townsend and Townsend and Crew LLP
• Ethan Fingerman, Vice President, Aquilo Partners
• Leslie Lippard, Partner, Sage Spring Partners
• Moderator: Richard Hsu, Partner, Townsend and Townsend and Crew LLP
Date and Time: Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010; agenda
1:30 – 2:00 pm Registration & Networking
2:00 pm – 2:45 pm Presentation & QA:
Getting the Most Bang for Your Patent Dollars
by William Kezer, Partner, Townsend & Townsend and Crew
3:00 – 4:30 pm Panel Discussion: Maximizing Value in Licensing Transactions and Acquisitions
4:30 pm – 5:30 pm Networking Reception
Location: Townsend and Townsend and Crew LLP, Two Embarcadero Center, Eighth Floor, San Francisco, CA 94111-3819
Two Embarcadero Center is located 2 blocks from the BART and MUNI Embarcadero Station
Cost and registration:
• Regular Price: $30
• Partners' Network: $20
• BioCenter Members: Free
• On-site Registration: add $10 to the above
Space is limited for this event, so early pre-registration is recommended to avoid disappointment on the day!
Topic Description
Maximizing the value of your BioPharma IP begins with being strategic about your end-game. You want to pay less and achieve more from your innovations and investments, and to minimize the risk of losing ownership or control over what’s rightfully yours. The smart approach? Develop an IP strategy that considers your full potential for licensing, investment, merger and acquisition while delivering full protection for your patentable assets.
Join startup strategists from Townsend and Townsend and Crew, Aquilo Partners and SageSpring Partners to learn how companies today are managing to get more value for their dollar by developing integrated IP and business strategies that minimize their risks and maximize their investment value. Our programs are candid, interactive and informal. We want you to walk away with the real story behind how things work so you can make it happen yourself.
Speaker Bios
Dr. Kezer is chair of Townsend's Chemistry & Biotechnology Practice Group. He advises clients in all aspects of patent prosecution, with an emphasis on chemistry, particularly pharmaceutical products and targets, as well as other small molecules. Dr. Kezer has worked extensively in the strategic development of patent portfolios and has provided due diligence reviews of targeted companies and technology. Comparative evaluation of competitive patented technologies for our clients is yet another aspect of his practice. His practice also focuses on procuring global patent protection for pharmaceutical inventions, and providing strategies for product protection that include formulations, drug delivery technologies, and dosing methods. Dr. Kezer has served as in-house Patent Counsel for Tularik Inc. (now part of Amgen, Inc.), a company involved in the discovery of compounds for the regulation of gene expression. His experience in the corporate setting has been useful for providing a business-based, product-driven approach to patent portfolio construction. Prior to entering the practice of law, Dr. Kezer served as a Senior Research Scientist and Project Leader for FMC Corporation and Dow Chemical Company/DowElanco. His research experience involved the design and synthesis of small molecule regulators of biological processes. Dr. Kezer's doctoral thesis was directed to the design and synthesis of transition-state analogs as inhibitors of peptidases, under the direction of Professor Paul A. Bartlett at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a graduate of Golden Gate University, J.D., 1993; University of California, Berkeley, Ph.D., 1983, Organic Chemistry; and Humboldt State University, B.S., 1978, Chemistry.
Ethan is a Vice President at Aquilo Partners, a boutique life sciences investment bank in San Francisco. Aquilo focuses on strategic advisory (including partnering and M&A transactions) and private placements. Prior to joining Aquilo in 2008, Ethan was a consultant at Putnam Associates, a life sciences strategy consulting firm. At Putnam, Ethan worked with numerous large pharmaceutical clients on projects involving opportunity assessments, partnering screens, and marketing / commercialization strategies. Prior to Putnam, Ethan worked in Business Development at Epix Pharmaceuticals. Ethan received a Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of Pennsylvania and a BS from Yale University.
Leslie Lippard has 15 years of experience in the life science industry, and has worked in the industry as well as on the consulting side of the business. She has experience in licensing, portfolio management, project management of late stage candidates and in-line products, and commercial strategy, and has worked both with top-10 pharma companies, mid-size biotechs, and start-ups. She has been applying herself to market research for the past 5 years, and is one of SageSpring Partners most experienced moderators. She also has considerable experience both with international projects and with quantitative projects, particularly those that require deep therapeutic area knowledge (chart audits, etc). She has a BS in Physics from Caltech and an MBA from the University of Oregon.
Mr. Hsu advises companies on licensing transactions and associated intellectual property issues. He has extensive experience in licensing, development, acquisitions, service, purchase and other partnering agreements for a variety of industries and clients. Mr. Hsu has expertise in intellectual property asset management and Sarbanes Oxley compliance, having assisted numerous clients in developing and implementing strategies to acquire, protect, enforce and commercialize various forms of intellectual property. Prior to joining Townsend, Mr. Hsu was a Senior Attorney at Venture Law Group, where he represented over 100 venture backed startup companies. He was also former general counsel at Cyrano Sciences, Inc. (acquired by Smiths Detection), a venture-backed company founded by Caltech Nobel Laureate Robert H. Grubbs; Mr. Hsu’s pivotal management role in the company was featured on television station KWHY and in the Los Angeles Daily Journal (March 1998). Mr. Hsu is a graduate of Columbia University School of Law, J.D., 1994 and California Institute of Technology, B.S., 1989, Engineering and Applied Science (with honors).
