VWV Licensing issues and concerns in pharma - the benefits and pitfalls

Summary: The world of licensing plays a fundamental part in the pharmaceuticals and life sciences sector. This can mean the licensing of technology into a business, such as a cornerstone patent for a spin-out or start-up, through to the licensing of innovative or established technology to external third parties. Licensing can be used for many reasons and comes in various shapes and sizes, such as commercial exploitation or academic collaborations and therefore is often seen as a go-to mechanism for those in the industry where ownership is not an option or something for discussion later down the line. In this short one hour webinar, VWV specialist lawyers, Laura Barrell and Penelope Jones, will be outlining the issues and concerns with licensing in pharma, including the benefits and pitfalls, as well as time for a question and answer session with the experts. So come along and gain some expert insight and practical take-aways regarding this key consideration for the sector.

Speaker Information:

Laura is a Senior Associate in the Commercial team at VWV located principally in the Watford office, whilst working closely alongside colleagues in the VWV London, Bristol and Birmingham offices. She assists the team with a diverse range of instructions, from general commercial contracts to specialist intellectual property matters, particularly in relation to research and development agreements and complex collaborations. A key member of the pharmaceuticals and life sciences and technology sector teams at VWV for over a decade, Laura's specialism in the sector, particularly in relation to early stage drug and device development, has given her the opportunity to work for and against organisations of all shapes and sizes, ranging from Big Pharma to start-ups and spin-outs, including those with a focus on the life sciences and biotechnology industries. Laura's experience in assisting her pharmaceuticals and life sciences clients includes a number of in-house secondments which have allowed her to see how the sector works from the inside, as well as establish a deeper understanding of the complex relationships at play in these organisations and the future aims and needs of the businesses in this specialist area.  

Penelope is a solicitor in VWV's Commercial team based across the London and Watford offices, advising on commercial contracts, intellectual property, data protection and consumer law. She also often works closely with members of other teams, such as corporate and regulatory compliance, to meet her clients' needs. As a longstanding member of the pharmaceuticals and life sciences, healthcare and technology teams at VWV, Penelope has experience working closely with clients in these sectors, with a particular focus on clients in the cross section of these sectors such as digital health and biotechnology. Many of her clients are start-ups, and Penelope understands the particular challenges that face early stage businesses. Penelope's experience includes both academic and commercial collaboration agreements, intellectual property assignments and licences, confidentiality agreements, advising on complex data sharing, software development and consumer advice.