Catherine M. Polizzi

Specializing in biotech and pharma, Polizzi protects her clients’ innovative therapies, blockbuster drugs and novel technologies while helping engineer major mergers and acquisitions in the life sciences arena.

Her work for both Celgene Corp. and Juno Therapeutics Inc. — leaders in anti-cancer research and therapeutics — was key when the companies merged last year.

“I was honored when the head of IP at Celgene said he was glad I was available and already in charge of Juno’s IP portfolio,” Polizzi said.

She’s had Celgene as a client since 2010. The Summit, New Jersey-based biopharmaceutical company produces the multibillion-dollar anti-cancer drug Abraxane; Polizzi led the team that obtained important U.S. patent protections for the drug and won from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office a grant of 237 additional days of patent-term adjustment covering Abraxane’s formulation, extending patent exclusivity to October 2024.

“That extension is critical, given the time and money they’ve invested,” Polizzi said. “We challenged the patent office and won.”

Indeed, it was Polizzi, then representing Abraxis BioScience Inc., who shepherded its 2010 acquisition by Celgene. Deeply involved in the science behind the breakthroughs, Polizzi has doctorates in molecular biology and biochemistry along with her J.D.

So she was ideally placed to work on the $9 billion Celgene deal with Juno, headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Since 2014, Juno has had Polizzi in charge of its multi-billion-dollar portfolio of patents covering technologies that treat cancer by re-engaging the body’s immune systems.

On the Celgene deal she led the due diligence that was the basis for a significant portion of the portfolio’s valuation.

“Sometimes acquisitions are looked on with trepidation by all participants,” Polizzi observed. “Focus on the overall goal of caring about the technology is key. Here, the integration was smooth and organic. That’s part of my role—to set up further fruitful collaborations.”

For biotech client Genentech Inc., headquartered in South San Francisco, Polizzi offers strategic patent counseling and prosecution services for cancer drugs Kadcyla, Perjeta, Gazyva and Tecentriq. In August 2018 her MoFo team won a ruling in federal court for attorney fees in a long-running infringement case over the breast cancer drug Kadcyla, in which she had earlier achieved summary judgment for Genentech. The matter was affirmed on appeal this year. Phigenix Inc. v. Genentech Inc., 17-2617 (Fed. Cir., filed Feb. 27, 2017).

“This is the reason I do all this, instead of practicing as a physician,” Polizzi said of the acquisitions achieved and court battles won. “I find it extremely fulfilling.”

— John Roemer