Mika Reiner Mayer

Mika Reiner Mayer is a partner performing patent counseling and prosecutions in the life sciences at Cooley LLP. She joined the firm in 2016; her earlier work includes having been a staff scientist and patent agent. She has a degree in chemical engineering.

Clients often retain her to perform IP due diligence reviews, an essential component of venture investments, debt financing, licensing agreements and partnerships, acquisitions and public offerings. Her firm says she handles more such assignments than any other lawyer in the U.S.

“My practice remains incredibly busy,” Mayer said. With a practice split between diligence work and patent prosecution, the work tends to ebb and flow. “This year, they have both felt like they are at 100 percent,” she said in late April. “Indeed, this year, we’ve already completed over 15 IP diligence reviews on behalf of investors and helped our clients close several large acquisitions.”

Among them: Oyster Point Pharma Inc.’s sale to Viatris Inc. for $415 million and Myovant Sciences GmbH’s $1.7 billion acquisition by biopharmaceutical company Sumitomo Pharma Co. Ltd.

Other clients include RefleXion Medical, Scribe Therapeutics, Intuity Medical, Sight Sciences, Vaxcyte (formerly SutroVax) and Versanis Bio.

Mayer noted, “My advice regarding strength of IP is often one of the most important deal factors. Indeed, it could be the deciding factor in whether a startup is funded, a mature company is purchased — or it could even swing the deal value, sometimes on the order of billions. Through my patent work and past diligences, I know a massive number of folks in the life sciences community.”

Those connections were key, Mayer said, in 2022 when she was diagnosed with a rare malignant tumor known as a liposarcoma. “That’s when people in my professional network stepped up to help with a path forward,” she wrote in an “I’m Back” post in October following successful surgery.

She detailed the help she’d received: “Clients with a background in radiology offered to walk me through my scans. Medical device clients offered me products to help with pain reduction and recovery. Biotech clients offered to help analyze the genetic profile of the tumor to help find potential solutions. Others sent heartfelt messages and thoughtful care packages.”

Along with deep gratitude, Mayer developed a keener appreciation of her clients, she said. “The truth is, at this point in my career, I have the luxury of choosing who I want to work with and who I do not. I don’t have any clients that I would rather not have. From my perspective, all of my clients embody the life sciences entrepreneurial spirit and are aiming to bring impactful and life-changing technology to the world.”

—John Roemer