In pharma and biotech, IP is often what is being bought. At Evolve, we support companies, investors and universities through licensing, collaborations, financings and acquisitions, from the first term sheet to the signed agreement and beyond.
Licensing and collaborations
In-licences, out-licences, co-development deals and research collaborations all turn on the IP terms. We advise on and negotiate field and territory, ownership of improvements and jointly developed IP, control of prosecution and enforcement, diligence obligations, royalty stacking and what happens to the IP when a deal ends.
Platform deals
Big pharma is increasingly buying technology platforms that can generate a pipeline of products, rather than single drugs (Evolve Insights). Platform deals need careful definitions of the licensed technology, the products it generates and the rights each party keeps. Read more about our work on platform technologies.
Due diligence
We run buy-side and sell-side IP due diligence, covering coverage of the product, validity, freedom to operate, chain of title and loss of exclusivity, in every market that matters to the deal.
Getting ready to sell or partner
Before a process starts, we help you put your IP in order: fixing gaps in chain of title and in-licences, forecasting loss of exclusivity market by market (Evolve Insights), and presenting the portfolio clearly, so that the buyer’s diligence confirms the value rather than eroding it.
Negotiating the IP terms
Our team has negotiated IP terms on high-value pharma and biotech transactions from both sides of the table, and has stayed with deals after signing. That is how we know which IP positions hold up, and which terms matter when things change.
Fractional IP counsel
Our fractional IP counsel model places a named senior patent attorney inside your team as your head of IP, leading the IP workstream on your deals and making sure the terms you agree are carried through after signing.
Why fractional IP counsel for deals? Deals rarely arrive on a convenient timetable. Our patent directors have negotiated IP terms from inside pharma and biotech companies, so they bring the real-world industry experience that you only get working in-house to the term sheet and the data room. Unlike a solo consultant, they can call on our team for diligence, freedom to operate and drafting at short notice, supported by Cassandra. Unlike a traditional IP firm, they stay with you after signing to make sure the terms are carried through, with a global strategic approach.
Contact us today to discuss your next deal.
Evolve AI
Cassandra: Due diligence and IP contract review
Cassandra works through the deal information with us, so the risks are ranked before anyone signs.
IP sits at the heart of most biotech deals, and the diligence nearly always arrives with too little time attached. Cassandra keeps a single record of every fact, where it came from and how far it can be trusted, which leaves our attorneys free to spend the time on judgement rather than bookkeeping.
- Intake: the deal brief, then the data, worked through across product identity and the patent portfolio to ownership, key parties and agreements
- Analysis: coverage of the product claim by claim and country by country, validity from priority through to the data behind the claims, and the chain of title traced step by step
- Verdict: risks ranked by how serious they are, each with an owner, with the strength of the evidence graded separately from the size of the risk
Cassandra also reads the IP terms in commercial agreements and flags what the attorney should look at.
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