By
Jim Baer
The growth of the biotech industry has been nothing short of
phenomenal. Work in this field is not as new as perceived. Monsanto
and other major companies have been developing in this area
for 20 to 30 years. The interest, among St. Louis law firms
has been intense, and here is a sampling of what is going on
in the biotechnical industry today:
Polsinelli Shalton Flanigan Suelthaus
Kate Doty from the St. Louis office, and Pat Woolley, based
in Kansas City, are handling more than 75 percent of the companies
for the firm in this rapidly-expanding field.
Developing patents for intellectual properties is a stimulating
process, according to Doty. “We represent large corporations,
universities and private research institutes, and newly established
entrepreneurial technology companies working on the development
of cutting-edge technologies. Our goal is to a formulate a strategy
that best protects our client’s intellectual property assets
in a cost effective manner at all stages of product development,”
says Doty.
“This is a challenging and exciting field because the law in
the intellectual property area and the technology are both continually
evolving, and because we represent a diverse portfolio of clients,
each of them have different needs and challenges that we must
take into account in to order to formulate the best strategy
for our clients to leverage the maximum potential from their
intellectual property,” she says.
The Polsinelli client list includes doing work for Novus International,
for Sigma-Aldrich (biotechnology), for Solae, for KV Pharmaceutical,
for Mediomics and the University of Arkansas, Creighton University,
Saint Louis University, Washington University, the University
of Southern Illinois, and the University of Missouri-Rolla.
They are generally following the work being done along the I-70
corridor from St. Louis to Kansas City.
Because many of their clients are long on ideas and short on
cash, both firm members have created a blended billing rate
for their upstart companies. “We work a lot with copyrights,
trademarks and software development,” indicates Woolley.
“Protecting the fruits of innovation and products of the mind,
and products that exist, is the essence of our work,” says Woolley.
Bryan Cave
A number of years ago, Walter Metcalf, former chairman of the
firm, saw the biotech field as a growth area and one that could
produce long-term business. Today, that business is managed
by Powell Carman who maintains an extensive portfolio in the
business.
Powell grew up on a farm and worked in the agricultural-chemical
business before becoming an attorney.
“Our firm has had a long history working with clients in the
food and agricultural business and with pharmaceuticals in the
northeast,” he reports. Carman works primarily on helping upstart
companies develop their business model and commercialize their
products, and in an efficient manner as possible. “Most of our
clients have limited funding and we work with venture capitalists
to find that money,” he says. The primary Bryan Cave work is
that in licensing and strategic collaboration.
The extensive portfolio includes representation for Monsanto,
The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, Sigma-Aldrich (chemical
division), NIDUS Center, BioGenerator and Stereotaxis (publicly
held company that has become a St. Louis success story. Stereotaxis
creates magnetic guided instruments for cardiac intervention
care.)
An interesting secondary list includes a host of biotech startup
companies including: Efficas (focused on medical-based foods),
Chlorogen (a pharmaceutical deriving protein from tobacco),
Singulex (a company detecting biological system changes at the
molecular level) and EMMI Solutions (a company developing interactive
tools to educate patients about advanced medical procedures).
“Our goal is helping pharmaceutical companies to get products
to the next stage of development. We are working in health-related
areas to help people live longer and have better lives,” says
Carman.
David A. Welte and Gino R. Serra have joined the Kansas City
office of the international law firm Bryan Cave LLP as partners.
Welte comes from the Stowers Institute for Medical Research,
while Serra comes from the Kansas City office of Polsinelli
Shalton Flanigan Suelthaus PC as a practitioner in the field
of biotech research.
“This is a significant development for Bryan Cave and for Missouri,”
says former Senator and Bryan Cave partner Jack Danforth. “Life
Science is one of the major strengths of our state and has significant
growth potential. It ties together Kansas City, St. Louis and
the University of Missouri. With David and Gino, Bryan Cave
will have a leadership role in this promising and exciting field.”
Thompson Coburn
Richard Shear came to this company in 2000 after serving 20
years as chief intellectual counsel at Monsanto. Shear’s goals
are protecting the legal rights of his clients, saving lives
and feeding the world’s hungry. “This good work does make a
difference,” he says proudly.
Thompson Coburn represents Monsanto, Divergence, the Danforth
Center, Washington Sequoia Sciences (outgrowth of a company
that left Washington University, went to San Diego, then returned
to St. Louis), the University of Nebraska and Kalypsis in San
Diego, and Firma Logic in Chicago.
Shear has witnessed phenomenal growth in the biotech industry.
“There seems to be a lot of growth with the advent of genomics
and the growth of information technology,” he indicates.
“Millions of dollars are being spent on medical testing and
our duties are protecting the legal rights to help our clients,”
he says. “This work does make a difference and there are personal
rewards,” Shear says.
Thompson Coburn has 10 staff attorneys tending to this business
with four more PhD’s researching and advising in this area.
“Some are attorneys, others are technical advisors,” he reveals.
Senniger Powers
Kathleen Petrillo and Tim McBride are the principals in protecting
clients in the life science practice area. These attorneys have
extensive experience in biology, chemistry, chemical engineering
and pharmacy and protecting the patent rights of all their clients.
Senniger Powers is 85-years-old, and the oldest Intellectual
Properties’ firm in the state of Missouri. As a matter of fact,
IP is all the firm does. They have 50 attorneys in the firm,
and half work in the life sciences arena.
“Technology is really exciting and cutting edge, and we work
with clients who produce devices and medicines to deal with
life threatening illnesses like cancer and diabetes,” says Petrillo.
“What sets us apart from our competitors is the fact that we
deal solely with acquisition and enforcement of intellectual
properties,” she states.
Most of the day-to-day activity is in the area of patent rights
and trademark protection. Currently, the firm’s attorneys are
dealing with projects involving gene therapy and cellular gene
transfer, which involves extensive laboratory research. Technologies
involve working with early detection of breast cancer, genetic
manipulation of non-human animals, biofuels that can be used
in cell phones and laptops, cellular gene transfer, and gene
therapy for the treatment of HIV and other diseases.
One key client is Akermin Inc. Biofuels (the first graduate
of the BioGenerator incubator of St. Louis). In the academic
world, they represent Washington University and Saint Louis
University’s advanced work in regenerating beta cell functions
for diabetes in the pancreas. This is applicable to all types
of diabetes including xeno transplantation.
Other key clients are Sigma-Aldrich (lab work products in fine
chemicals), Monsanto, Baxter BioScience (Irvine, Calif.), Florida
State University and Leinco Technologies.
McBride enjoys the practical impact of some of the biotech inventions.
“These inventions have an impact on human health and well-being—not
just of individuals locally, but of people worldwide,” states
McBride.
Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal (SN&R)
Harley Blosser came to the firm five years ago, and is the lead
attorney in a five-man group, including David Crawford, Dennis
Harney, Brad Kurtz and James Wiley Jr. The five make up the
Life Science Group for SN&R.
“I enjoy the opportunity to work across great spectrums and
help develop life saving products. I’ve seen a great increase
in investment dollars in St. Louis in recent years,” he reports.
“Sometimes these ideas are just pipe dreams. We need to germinate
the seeds and watch them grow,” says Blosser.
Blosser has handled a variety of business, ranging from the
patent process to law suits dealing directly with challenges
to intellectual properties. The firm deals with a variety of
start-ups working on DNA solutions.
The established client list includes Sigma-Aldrich, Monsanto,
Pharma, Teva (an Israeli based company) and Columbia University
in New York. “The St. Louis community has become much more receptive
to the life science biotech business and they are putting a
lot more dollars into this research and work,” says Blosser.
Danna McKitrick
The bulk of the work is handled by Ruth Binger, a partner in
what she terms a “mid-sized firm.”
Binger’s goal is bringing a business perspective to a medical
field. She runs a business roundtable for 14 local companies
(offshoot of work that was started by the RCGA). Dana McKitrick
has 25 attorneys on staff, and four work primarily in the area
of biotechnology development. Binger’s personal work is with
venture capitalists, dealing with the intellectual component
and working with university researchers. “It’s a totally different
type of law,” she says.
“This is such a unique industry with a lot of research and almost
no revenues,” she says. However, working in this field has given
Binger a lot of connection to movers and shakers on both the
east and west coasts of the U.S.
“The inter-personal capital that goes into this business creates
a totally different business model,” she says. “Sometimes, it’s
just like raising a kid. They start out naked, you nurture them
and they grow up and move away.” She predicts as the business
develops, the companies will migrate to the bigger, more established
firms.
Still, Binger finds working behind the scenes in biotechnology
a real ‘turn on.’
“It is so satisfying to be involved in what I would call really
cool stuff,” says Binger. Dana McKitrick works with researchers
at Solae, Monsanto, and host of midsized firms on the local
BioGenerator list.
“We are the only mid-sized law firm on the BioGenerator preferred
list,” she says proudly. “The good thing is, the founders of
these companies are very real, and really believe in their products
and their work.”
Suffice to say, there’s plenty of work for the legal profession
within the local and national biotechnical field.
