Lawyer Spotlight - Client Service

THE SITUATION: When pharmaceutical companies license third-party drug portfolios, they must make sure these expensive acquisitions are free of any patent-related obstacles that would keep the company from developing and marketing the drug. At the same time, the drug must be unique enough that the company can have exclusive rights to market it for a sufficient period of time to recoup their investment.

Depending on the portfolio, such due diligence reviews can be daunting tasks and can be tremendously expensive, even if performed correctly. And if they are not performed correctly, the company can find itself stuck with a commercially worthless product.

 

THE SOLUTION: When California-based Gilead Sciences needs this type of pharmaceutical patent due diligence, they turn to Womble Carlyle and life sciences patent attorney Amy Fix. During the past two years, she has performed several of these due diligence reviews for the company. Gilead officials wanted to license several new drug products, but they needed to be sure they had the freedom to operate. Fix conducted the reviews that allowed Gilead to successfully bring these products into the market without legal entanglements.

In a 2010 survey of the nation’s top 500 companies conducted by Corporate Counsel magazine, legal leaders at Gilead Sciences named Womble Carlyle one of its two go-to law firms for intellectual property work.

 

IN THE ATTORNEY’S WORDS: “With this type of review, you can easily get sidetracked—and run up the client’s legal bill in the process. There are many tangential issues that create unnecessary distractions. On the other hand, you must make sure that any legitimate conflicts and concerns are uncovered before the client invests its money in a new product.

I know Gilead and I know their business. They trust me to handle their patent reviews efficiently and without extensive oversight from their in-house counsel. They know I won’t waste their time and money.

Working with the Gilead team is like working with a colleague down the hall. Our relationship does not have any tension like some in-house/external attorney relationships—we see ourselves as part of the same team.”