Mintz On Air

Client Corner: Meet Biotech Executive John Edwards

Our Client Corner: Perspectives from Founders, Financiers, and Friends podcast series hosted by Mintz Member Joshua Fox explores the dynamics of starting and running a business, investing in a business, and helping to support a business — through insights shared by entrepreneurs, investors, and members of the start-up community. We hope these conversations will provide valuable advice to you, the listener, as you’re working to successfully build your own business, as well as inspire others who are thinking about starting a new venture.

In this episode of Client Corner, Josh chats with John Edwards, an executive chair, board member, and senior adviser to start-up and clinical-stage biotechnology companies.

John will draw insights from his experience in key industry roles:

• Recently, CEO of Abcuro and Verseau Therapeutics, Inc.
• Executive Chair at Tilos Therapeutics, where, in less than two years, he helped advance the company from its formation to its acquisition by Merck
• Executive Chair of F-star, at which he helped grow the company from the discovery stage to a leading developer of clinical-stage bispecific antibodies which included bringing in more than $200 million in revenue from business development deals
• Pivotal roles in building Siamab and Exonics, which both had successful M&A exits in 2019
• Chief Operating Officer at Adnexus, a tenure that included taking the company from the start-up period through a $450 million acquisition by Bristol Myers Squibb, serving as President of Adnexus, and working within BMS’s R&D organization during the early days of immuno-oncology
• Vice President of Sales, Marketing, and Medical Affairs at Transkaryotic Therapies
• A 15-year tenure with Genetics Institute/Wyeth, where he was responsible for leading the company’s first product from research to FDA and EMA approvals
• One of the first employees at Genzyme

Client Corner: Ridhi Tariyal, Co-founder & CEO of NextGen Jane

Our Client Corner: Perspectives from Founders, Financiers, and Friends podcast series hosted by Mintz Member Joshua Fox explores the dynamics of starting and running a business, investing in a business, and helping to support a business — through insights shared by entrepreneurs, investors, and members of the start-up community. We hope these conversations will provide valuable advice to you, the listener, as you’re working to successfully build your own business, as well as inspire others who are thinking about starting a new venture.

In this episode of Client Corner, Josh chats with Ridhi Tariyal, co-founder and CEO of NextGen Jane, a company that is defining the next generation of obstetric and gynecological health. Before founding NextGen Jane, Ridhi led the operations and finances of a $10 million genomic endeavor in West Africa for the Broad Institute. Most of Ridhi’s career has been in health care, from operational roles in a big pharmaceutical company (Bristol-Myers Squibb) to strategic positions at smaller entrepreneurial organizations (like Embrace).

Client Corner: Jerry Williamson, CEO of Sengenics

Welcome to Client Corner: Perspectives from Founders, Financiers, and Friends, a new Mintz On Air podcast series hosted by Mintz Member Joshua Fox that explores the dynamics of starting and running a business, investing in a business, and helping to support a business — through insights shared by entrepreneurs, investors, and members of the start-up community. We hope these conversations will provide valuable advice to you, the listener, as you’re working to successfully build your own business, as well as inspire others who are thinking about starting a new venture.

In this episode of Client Corner, Joshua Fox chats with Jerry Williamson, CEO of Sengenics. Jerry has more than 30 years of experience in bioscience markets for life science research, diagnostics, and analytical products. Prior to Sengenics, Jerry was the CEO and a member of the Board of Directors of NanoView Biosciences. Prior to that, Jerry was President, CEO, and a director of Kew, Inc. and held senior positions at Metamark Genetics, Flagship Ventures, Molecular Devices (Danaher), Biacore (GE), and Pyrosequencing (QIAGEN).

Exclusive Rights: Intellectual Property - SEPs at the ITC – Are SEP Litigants and the Commission Speaking the Same “Love Language?”

In this episode of the EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS: Intellectual Property podcast, IP Members Daniel Weinger and Jonathan Engler discuss how the US International Trade Commission (ITC) evaluates standard essential patents (SEPs) that are litigated in this forum. They also provide useful context on the perspective of the ITC as it relates to the greater trade infrastructure.

Dan and Jonathan discuss these topics and more:

- How the US Trade Representative’s veto of the Samsung-Apple 794 decision affects ITC cases today, and what has changed
- Whether or not owners (or implementers) of SEPs should be fearful of a case brought against them at the ITC
- How ITC complaints can be structured to address SEP issues early on
- The future of SEP cases at the ITC: which industries will start utilizing this forum next?

Exclusive Rights: Intellectual Property - Bad Dog? “Bad Spaniels” at SCOTUS

In this episode of the EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS: Intellectual Property podcast, IP Members Daniel Weinger and Karen Won discuss the recent Supreme Court decision in Jack Daniels v. VIP Products addressing whether the “Bad Spaniels” dog chew toy violates the Lanham Act for trademark infringement. In this case, SCOTUS held that the Rogers test for parody does not apply when a trademark is used as a source identifier, which occurred here, and sent the case back down for further proceedings to analyze the “likelihood of confusion” test.

Dan and Karen discuss this outcome and also cover:
- How and when to assess parody
- Surveys in trademark cases in light of the Sotomayor concurrence
- How the decision affects brands going forward

Exclusive Rights: Intellectual Property - The Vulnerable Icon: Prince, Warhol, and the Supreme Court’s Latest on Copyright Law

In this episode of the EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS: Intellectual Property podcast, Drew DeVoogd and Michael Graif discuss the recent Supreme Court decision in Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. v. Goldsmith, which held that Warhol’s Orange Prince silkscreen portrait did not constitute fair use of a copyrighted photograph of the music legend.

Among other topics, Drew and Michael cover:
- Commercially used visual art and the fair use defense to copyright infringement
- The line between derivative and transformative works of art
- The terse concurrence and vigorous dissent issued with the opinion
- How this case may affect creators, their counsel, and the lower courts

Exclusive Rights: Intellectual Property - Avoiding Pitfalls: IP “Dos and Don’ts” for High-Tech Start-Ups

In this episode of the EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS: Intellectual Property podcast, Daniel Weinger, Frank Gerratana, and Greg Penoyer discuss how young technology companies can set themselves up for IP success. Whether the organization’s goal is eventual divestment, an IPO, or undetermined, having a solid IP foundation will set a young company on the right track. Addressing these issues now will save time and money down the road.

Daniel, Frank, and Greg cover the topics below and more:
- Founding documents and relationships between founders
- Provisional patent applications and strategy
- Trademarks and other names and the importance of early research and protection
- Open source considerations

In the Boardroom: Special Edition - Lessons Learned from Silicon Valley Bank

Our In the Boardroom: Practical Advice and Guidance podcast series features insights from Mintz Members Steve Osborn, Melanie Levy, and Tom Burton on a wide variety of topics specific to boards. For decades, Steve, Melanie, and Tom have guided companies from inception to exit, and have encountered, navigated, and mitigated innumerable board-related issues. From their experiences, you can learn a great deal. Let’s take a listen!

In this special edition of the podcast, the team discusses lessons learned for board members from the failure of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). What does risk management in the boardroom mean? Who is principally responsible for risk management? What kinds of risks should be reviewed? These are a few of the questions that Steve, Melanie, and Tom will delve into.

We hope you enjoy listening.