Senior Director, Intellectual Property

4D Molecular Therapeutics•Emeryville, CA

4h•$280,000 - $330,000

About The Position

4DMT is a leading late-stage biotechnology company advancing durable and disease-targeted therapeutics with potential to transform treatment paradigms and provide unprecedented benefits to patients. The Company’s lead product candidate 4D-150 is designed to be a backbone therapy forming the foundation of treatment of blinding retinal vascular diseases by providing multi-year sustained delivery of anti-VEGF (aflibercept and anti-VEGF-C) with a single, safe, intravitreal injection, which substantially reduces the treatment burden associated with current bolus injections. The Company’s lead indication for 4D-150 is wet age-related macular degeneration, which is currently in Phase 3 development, and second indication is diabetic macular edema. The Company’s second product candidate is 4D-710, which is the first known genetic medicine to demonstrate successful delivery and expression of the CFTR transgene in the lungs of people with cystic fibrosis after aerosol delivery GENERAL SUMMARY: 4DMT is seeking an experienced intellectual property attorney, with a focus in patent prosecution, to manage 4DMT’s intellectual property portfolio and provide strategic counsel and training on all facets of patent, trade secret, trademark, and copyright law, including procurement, registration, enforcement, freedom to operate, and IP litigation. The role will also counsel 4DMT’s R&D and CMC teams on a wide range of day-to-day transactions with partners that are central to their work, and well as provide IP input on strategic transactions and support IP diligence efforts. The role will work cross-functionally with R&D, CMC, Finance, Business Development, and IT teams, and may interact with other teams, depending on project needs. The role will report to and be a strategic thought partner to the Chief Legal Officer. The ideal candidate must be an experienced attorney, with a strong background in the biopharmaceutical industry and excellent business judgment and interpersonal skills. In depth knowledge of the drug development process, regulatory and compliance requirements, strategic partnerships, and commercial strategy is strongly preferred.

Requirements

J.D. degree or equivalent from an accredited law school
Ph.D. in molecular biology, genetics, biochemistry, or other biological field related to the biopharma industry
Admission to at least one U.S. state bar
Registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office
10+ years of patent prosecution experience as an attorney in the life sciences field, particularly in biopharma (can be a combination of law firm and in-house experience).
Strong knowledge of patent, trade secret, and trademark practices, as well as current U.S. and foreign patent, trade secret, and trademark laws
In-house experience in and knowledge of drug development, with expertise in genetic medicines strongly preferred; in-house experience at one or more publicly traded, commercial-stage biotechnology, pharmaceutical, or biopharmaceutical companies.
Experience managing outside IP counsel and non-attorney legal staff
Excellent analytical and organizational skills and demonstrated ability to effectively collaborate and manage several simultaneous projects under deadline pressure.
Excellent communication (verbal and written), listening, negotiation, and presentation skills.
Solid interpersonal skills and the demonstrated ability to influence and partner across all levels of the Company.
Highest integrity, excellent judgment, and the ability to proactively recognize and effectively communicate legal issues to the Chief Legal Officer and other members of company management.

Nice To Haves

Experience in counseling life sciences R&D and CMC teams with respect to day-to-day transactions, including experience reviewing and negotiating confidentiality agreements, manufacturing agreements, material transfer agreements, sponsored research agreements, master services agreements, consulting agreements, and licenses.
Prior experience providing IP input on life sciences strategic transactions.
Prior IP litigation experience.

Responsibilities

Collaborate with Chief Legal Officer on development of 4DMT’s intellectual property strategy.
Responsible for implementing key elements of 4DMT’s intellectual property strategy, and manages its patent, trade secret, and trademark portfolio; implements a strategy for IP lifecycle management.
Directs outside counsel in the preparation and prosecution of applications and responding to office actions; directs outside counsel in evaluating the patentability of invention submissions and registrability of trademarks globally; manages related outside counsel budgets.
Identifies strategic areas for patenting, trade secret protection, and trademarking; collaborates with R&D, CMC, Clinical Science, and other functions to proactively identify and develop patentable intellectual property to prepare, file, and prosecute.
Manages patentability, freedom-to-operate, infringement, validity, and regulatory exclusivity analyses.
Identifies and tracks 4DMT trade secrets and provides counsel with respect to 4DMT’s trade secret protection practices.
Provides IP perspective and counseling at 4DMT meetings and presents on IP topics.
Counsels and trains internal clients on intellectual property practices and policies.
Conducts IP due diligence for business development activities and supports IP due diligence related to financing activities.
Drafts, reviews, and negotiates agreements to support R&D and CMC activities, including NDAs, MTAs, MSAs, sponsored research agreements, consulting agreements, and licenses.
Collaborates with Legal colleagues, Business Development, and other key leaders and functions on key strategic agreements, including licenses, collaboration agreements, and other business development efforts.
Assists with other Legal Department matters, including litigation support, SEC reporting (IP-related sections), records management, compliance activities, and template projects.
Other duties as assigned, nothing in this job description restricts management’s right to assign or reassign duties and responsibilities to this job at any time.