Dr. Geoff Kuziemko focuses his practice on assisting clients, primarily in the life sciences sector, with intellectual property and technology-intense transactions. His work runs the gamut of complex transactions, from out-bound license and in-bound license, development, commercialization, strategic alliance and joint venture, collaboration, and profit sharing agreements to commercial agreements for distribution, manufacture, and supply, as well as intellectual property due diligence for strategic acquisitions and financings involving life sciences businesses, products, and patents.
Geoff was previously the Vice President of Legal Services at a multi-billion, NASDAQ-listed genomics company, Exelixis, Inc., based in Northern California.
- Drafting and negotiating a collaboration for a variety of cell therapy programs
- Drafting and negotiating an exclusive outlicense of transmembrane immunomodulatory protein technology, valued at more than US$535 million
- Drafting and negotiating a worldwide profit share collaboration for six biosimilar programs, including upfront and milestone payments of US$245 million
- Drafting and negotiating a genomics alliance agreement for the discovery and development of novel therapeutic approaches to major chronic diseases within oncology, neuroscience, and immunology
- Drafting and negotiating separate US and EU commercial manufacturing and supply agreements for a medication used to treat medullary thyroid cancer and a second line treatment for renal cell carcinoma
- Drafting and negotiating a master collaboration agreement and ancillary agreements for a variety of immune-oncology programs, a transaction valued at US$1 billion
- Drafting and negotiating a license agreement for the commercialization in Europe and certain other territories of a drug used for the treatment of hyperkalemia, including an upfront cash payment of US$40 million, milestone payments of US$125 million, and tiered double-digit royalties
- Drafting and negotiating a development program agreement for gene therapy treatments targeting cystic fibrosis, generating more than US$3.5 million in funding
- Drafting and negotiating a master collaboration agreement with one of the largest privately held US corporation for the development of a methanotrophic bacteria program
- Drafting and negotiating an amendment terminating collaboration on an experimental drug candidate for the treatment of cancer
- Intellectual property due diligence and drafting and negotiating US$2.1 billion merger of two pharmaceutical companies
- Intellectual property due diligence for underwriters as part of the process for an initial public offering and follow-on offerings, including drafting and negotiating aspects of underwriting agreement
Admissions
Bar Admissions
- California
Court Admissions
- California Supreme Court
Education
- University of California College of the Law, San Francisco, 2000: cum laude; Order of the Coif
- University of California, Berkeley, Ph.D., Biophysical Chemistry, 1997
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, B.S., Chemistry, 1992; MIT Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program Award
Honors & Awards
- Recognized by The Legal 500 for his work in insurance matters (2019)
Professional Activities
Member
- California Bar Association
Speaker
- “Strategic Collaborations: Setting Up for Success” at J&J’s Legal Webinar Series for Life Sciences Entrepreneurs (July 7th, 2020)
- “Best Licensing Practices in Life Science IP: Negotiating and Executing Transaction,” The Knowledge Group (January 30th, 2019)
- 2019 China Renaissance Healthcare Event (January 10th, 2019)
- “Addressing Risk and Opportunities in Life Sciences IP Due Diligence,” The Knowledge Group (November 14th, 2018)
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