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James Gould advises clients across the life sciences industry in negotiating complex collaborations, licenses, strategic financings, carve-outs, and other bespoke transactions. He represents public and private companies, including mature pharmaceutical companies and growth stage biotech companies, investors, and institutions on both sides of in-licensing, out-licensing, and acquisition transactions.
During law school, James served as an editor of the Boston University Journal of Science and Technology Law. Prior to law school he studied chemistry and was named a Goldwater Scholar in 2019 for his research on self-assembled monolayers.
Experience
- Advised Blackstone Life Sciences in:
- a strategic financing collaboration with Apogee Therapeutics for up to $1.3 billion in flexible, non-dilutive total capital to support the continued development and potential commercialization of zumilokibart, initially developed for the treatment of atopic dermatitis.
- a collaboration with Teva Pharmaceuticals where funds managed by Blackstone Life Sciences will provide $400 million over four years to advance an inflammatory bowel disease therapy.
- a research and development co-funding agreement with Johnson & Johnson for acute myeloid leukemia.
- Advised Sanofi in:
- its acquisition of Dren Bio’s bispecific antibody-based program in immunology deal worth up to $1.9 billion.
- a strategic collaboration with Dren Bio to develop a next-generation B-cell depleting therapy for autoimmune diseases in a deal worth up to $1.7 billion.
- Advised Novo Nordisk in:
- an asset purchase and license agreement with Omeros Corporation for Omeros’ drug candidate zaltenibart, a potential best-in-class treatment for rare blood and kidney disorders, in a deal worth up to $2.1 billion.
- its $5.2 billion acquisition of Akero Therapeutics, a clinical-stage company developing transformational treatments for patients with serious metabolic diseases marked by high unmet medical need.
- Advised Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals in an agreement to sell its lead investigational candidate, bretisilocin, to AbbVie for up to $1.2 billion, inclusive of an upfront payment and development milestones. Bretisilocin is a potential best-in-class psychedelic compound for the treatment of patients with moderate to severe major depressive disorder.
- Advised Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in:
- an exclusive global license agreement with Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals for up to $1 billion to expand MASH pipeline.
- an exclusive global license agreement worth up to $2 billion with CSPC Pharmaceutical Group Limited for SYH2086, a preclinical oral small molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist.
- Advised Profluent in a multi-program strategic research collaboration with Eli Lilly and Company to develop and commercialize custom site-specific recombinases to address diseases with severe unmet needs.
- Represented Amylyx Pharmaceuticals in:
- a collaboration and development agreement with Gubra A/S to identify and develop a novel long-acting GLP-1 receptor antagonist
- its successful bid of more than $35.1 million to purchase the avexitide assets of Eiger BioPharmaceuticals, Inc. in the sale of Eiger’s assets pursuant to Section 363 of the bankruptcy code.
- Represented Regeneron in acquisition of 2seventy Bio platforms to create new R&D unit Regeneron Cell Medicines.
- Represented Accent Therapeutics in an asset purchase agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim for a preclinical potentially first-in-class small molecule oncology program for treating tumors with high interferon-stimulated gene expression.
- Represented Perceptive Xontogeny Venture Funds in a strategic partnership with Lexeo Therapeutics and venBio Partners to develop novel RNA-based therapeutics for genetic cardiac diseases through a new entity backed by up to $40 million in private equity financing from Perceptive and venBio.
- Represented a biopharmaceutical company in an AI-enabled research collaboration worth up to $5.3 billion with a China-based pharmaceutical group to advance the discovery and development of novel oral drug candidates across multiple disease indications.
- Represented a multinational pharmaceutical company in a strategic transaction with a Chinese biotechnology company to develop potential first-in-class peptide therapeutics worth up to $3.5 billion.
- Represented Alexza Pharmaceuticals in its carve-out sale of Staccato® One Breath Technology® to Lee's Pharmaceutical Holdings Limited.