Biotechnology & Life Sciences

Lathrop & Gage represents clients in the biotechnology and life sciences sector ranging from large pharmaceutical companies to small start-ups and venture capital groups. We have nearly 70 attorneys, patent agents and technical specialists who have focused expertise in biotechnology, chemistry, high technology, patent litigation and licensing. Our team includes attorneys admitted to the patent bar and former patent examiners from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office who know how to cut through agency red tape.

Lathrop & Gage has a nationwide presence, with offices from New York to Los Angeles. In keeping with the firm’s focus on the intellectual property arena, nearly all of those offices, including Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Denver, Boulder and Kansas City, have significant IP practices. Our attorneys are supported by a team of dedicated paralegals that manages and administers the myriad deadlines and technical requirements of patent and trademark offices in the United States and abroad.

Representative Experience:

• Crafting and defending a patent portfolio for an emerging Swiss antibody company in due diligence activities which resulted in its acquisition in 2009 by a U.S. opthalmology giant for more than $400 million.
• Preparing and filing the underlying petitions which led to Wyeth v. Kappos, a 2010 landmark decision overturning the narrow interpretation of the laws concerning patent term adjustment.
• Prosecuting and procuring a portfolio of fundamental patents related to the Nobel-prize winning RNA interference technology of a top, research-oriented medical school.
• Representing the two top venture capital-funded Massachusetts biotechnology firms on patent matters related to antibody-based therapeutics: Virdante Pharmaceuticals and Eleven Biotherapeutics attracted $47.75 million and $35 million last year in venture capital funding, respectively.
• Work with a university’s technology transfer office on patent prosecution matters and research agreements pertaining to a treatment for muscular dystrophy.