Amanda is a key transactions advisor for a broad range of clients in the life sciences industry. She represents and counsels multinational pharmaceutical companies, medical device and biotechnology companies, startups and early-stage enterprises, nonprofit organizations, and academic institutions in transactions critical to their business and mission, including cross-border deals.

Amanda’s practice includes a full range of life sciences transactions, including: licensing agreements, research and development collaboration agreements, strategic commercial partnerships, joint ventures, co-promotion relationships, and distribution and manufacturing arrangements.

The unique breadth of her client base and experience enables Amanda to provide sophisticated strategic counsel on transactions involving many of the life sciences industry’s most important emerging technologies.

Experience

Licensing and Collaborations; Commercial Arrangements

  • HUTCHMED (China) Limited in an exclusive worldwide license agreement with Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. for development, commercialization and manufacturing of HUTCHMED’s colorectal cancer treatment fruquintinib outside of mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau.
  • Pfizer Inc. in multiple transactions including:
    • in a $1.24 billion dollar ex-U.S. strategic collaboration agreement with Biohaven Pharmaceutical Company to commercialize rimegepant, a therapy approved in the U.S. as Nurtec ODT for the acute treatment of migraine attacks and the preventative treatment of episodic migraines.
    • in a strategic collaboration with Flagship Pioneering to create a new pipeline of innovative medicines.
  • ImmunoGen, Inc. in multiple transactions, including:
    • A collaboration with Oxford BioTherapeutics to research novel, first-in-class ADCs utilizing ImmunoGen’s proprietary linker-payload technology directed to novel targets identified by Oxford’s proprietary discovery platform;
    • A multi-target license and option agreement to research ADCs and discover unique tumor targets with ImmunoBiochem Corporation; and
    • In a research collaboration with Biosion USA to create novel antibody-drug conjugates.
  • A global biopharmaceutical company on a number of transactions, including a global strategic collaboration to discover, develop and commercialize a pipeline of innovative small molecule therapeutics against certain oncology and immunology targets and an exclusive worldwide option and license agreement for a costimulation antagonist for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.
  • Ginkgo Bioworks in a number of transactions, including:
    • a transaction with Bayer that included a multi-year strategic partnership for research and development of agricultural biologicals;
    • a strategic partnership with Aldevron to optimize production of vaccinia capping enzymes (VCE); and
    • a partnership with Berkeley Lights to use BLI's optofluidic platform in Ginkgo's genetic engineering foundries.
  • Provention Bio in a strategic collaboration with a subsidiary of Huadong Medicine to develop and commercialize PRV-3279, a bispecific antibody-based molecule in China.
  • A global biopharmaceutical company on a number of transactions, including a collaboration, option and license agreement with a clinical stage biotechnology company to research and develop a vaccine-based immunotherapy for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection.
  • A biopharmaceutical manufacturing specialist in a strategic alliance with a biotechnology company, to accelerate the research, development and delivery of cell therapies.
  • Paratek Pharmaceuticals, including in its license agreement with Almirall for the development and commercialization of SEYSARA® in the US and China.
  • Beam Therapeutics in connection with its licenses from Editas Medicine and the Broad Institute.
  • Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in its commercial licensing agreement with AstraZeneca for the U.S. rights to Zurampic, an FDA-approved treatment for hyperuricemia.

IP/Licensing Structuring in Asset Contributions/Divestitures

  • Asklepios BioPharmaceutical (AskBio), a biopharmaceutical gene therapy company, in its acquisition by Bayer AG.
  • Pfizer, including:
    • in its acquisition of Biohaven Pharmaceuticals, the maker of NURTEC ODT.
    • in its acquisition of Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
    • its acquisition of Trillium Therapeutics
  • Provention Bio in its sale to Sanofi for a value of approximately $2.9 billion.
  • A public university in the sale of a portion of its royalty interest in an orphan drug.
  • Ginkgo Bioworks, in a number of transactions, including:
    • an agreement to acquire biotechnology company Zymergen in an all-stock transaction that values Zymergen at approximately $300 million; and
    • in the acquisition of Patch Biosciences, a synthetic biology and machine learning company with a platform to engineer gene therapies and medicine.
  • ConvaTec Group, a global medical solutions company, in its acquisition of medical device company, Triad Life Sciences.
  • A research-based biopharmaceutical company, including in its exclusive option to acquire a clinical stage biotechnology company and its exclusive option to acquire an immunology company.
  • A multinational medical technology company in a number of transactions, including its acquisition of a medication & supply management company and its divestiture of its advanced bioprocessing business to a biotechnology company.

Areas of Practice