Lawyer Bio : Christopher E. Jeffers, Ph.D.

Christopher E. Jeffers, Ph.D.

"Chris"

Washington, DC

Chris Jeffers is a registered patent attorney and member of the Chemical/Pharmaceutical/Biotechnology Patent Team of Womble Carlyle's Intellectual Property Practice Group. Chris’ practice focuses exclusively on the representation of life science companies, including pharmaceutical, biotechnology, agricultural and medical device companies.
 
Chris has extensive experience representing life science companies in areas including:
 
  • Complex intellectual property transactions, including in-licensing and out-licensing, joint development agreements, CRADAs, sponsored research agreements, commercialization agreements and manufacturing agreements.  Chris also has extensive experience with technology transfer with universities and government laboratories
  • Design and execution of licensing and partnering plans for monetizing intellectual property portfolios
  • Patent prosecution, including design of patent portfolios, auditing of patent portfolios and strategic patent estate maintenance
  • Intellectual property litigation, including representation of branded companies in ANDA litigation, and litigation involving alleged breaches of license, employment and confidentiality agreements
  • Fundraising, including both venture capital and debt investments
  • Valuation and due diligence in support of venture capital investments and/or mergers and acquisitions
  • Design of pharmaceutical and medical device life cycle management plans
Chris has a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Biophysics from the University of Houston.  During graduate school Chris was a National Institutes of Health pre-doctoral fellow in biophysics at Rice University and was a National Institutes of Health post-doctoral fellow at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.  Prior to graduate school, Chris spent 8 years working as a board certified Medical Technologist for medical laboratories in military and civilian hospitals.  Chris has also been involved as a consultant on technical projects and technical due diligence in areas ranging from pharmaceutical discovery and development, medical device and diagnostic development, and stem cell scaffolds and therapeutic uses.
 
Chris was previously employed by Alba Therapeutics Corporation, where he held various roles including General Counsel and Vice President, Intellectual Property; Corporate Secretary and interim Vice President for Drug Discovery Operations.  Chris is the Founder and former Managing Member of FirstStage Bioventures, LLC. 

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Professional Activities

Admitted to the bar 2004, Maryland. Admitted to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
 
Member, American Bar Association; Member, American Intellectual Property Law Association; Member, Maryland Bar Association; Member, American Corporate Counsel Association; Member, Licensing Executives Society. 

Education

J.D., Georgetown University Law Center;
 
National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Fellow, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine;
 
Ph.D., Biochemistry, University of Houston; Houston Area Molecular Biophysics Training Program (NIH) Fellow, Rice University;
 
B.S., Biology (Molecular/Cellular emphasis), Texas A&M University;
 
Associate of Applied Science – Medical Laboratory Technology, Community College of the Air Force, United States Air Force School of Biomedical Sciences, Sheppard AFB, Wichita Falls, Texas.

Prior Legal Experience

Associate, IP Litigation, Licensing and Counseling, Connolly, Bove, Lodge & Hutz, LLP.
 
General Counsel; Vice President, Intellectual Property & Corporate Secretary, Alba Therapeutics Corporation, Baltimore, MD.
 
Patent Agent, IP Prosecution and Counseling, Arnold and Porter.
 
Patent Agent, IP Prosecution and Counseling, Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein and Fox, PLLC.

Additional Information

Additional Experience 
Adjunct Professor of Chemistry, Lee College, Baytown, TX.
 
Adjunct Assistant Professor of Biology, Houston Community College, Houston, TX.
 
Medical Technologist/Clinical Laboratory Scientist, Physician’s Reference Laboratories, Houston, TX.
 
Medical Technologist/Clinical Laboratory Scientist, Doctor’s Regional Medical Center, Corpus Christi, TX.
 
Medical Technologist/Clinical Laboratory Specialist, Val Verde Memorial Hospital, Del Rio, TX.
 
Military Experience 
Medical Laboratory Specialist, 433rd Airlift Wing, United States Air Force, Kelly AFB, San Antonio, TX.
 
Medical Laboratory Specialist, 47th Medical Wing, United States Air Force, Laughlin AFB, Del Rio, TX.
Additional Experience