Because No One is Immune to the Law
December 04, 2020 - Licensing + Commercial, Corporate + Venture Capital, COVID-19, Startup

Navigating Transaction and Licensing Issues in a COVID-19 World and Raising Angel Investments

GSAS Harvard Biotech Club and Morrison & Foerster’s Patent Course Off to a Roaring Start!

Session 2 of the GSAS Harvard Biotech Club and Morrison & Foerster course on Legal Topics for Scientists, Entrepreneurs, and Start Ups was led by Transactions and Licensing partner Matt Karlyn and focused on how to navigate commercial life sciences transactions and licensing issues in a COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 world.

Matt discussed three key aspects, the commercial aspects of AI and COVID-19, the critical aspects of cloud transactions, and the collaborations in a COVID-19 world. Maryam attended the session and shared that "The MoFo course offers an innovative and novel approach for acquiring the knowledge that is essential to successfully form or run a start-up. Several crucial topics are covered during the sessions including IP due diligence, licensing and patentability issues. The course also includes some of the top challenges in the industry transactions including the role of artificial intelligence in a COVID-19 world where you get to stay abreast of the latest developments in the health-care industry."

Emerging Companies + Venture Capital partner Jim Krenn followed in session 3 providing current and future entrepreneurs with the fundamentals of raising angel investments including the deal process, the different deal structures, and the general solicitation and equity crowdfunding. Jim commented that "angel investments are often the first type of outside capital that companies raise. We hope that by walking prospective entrepreneurs through the process, most common structures, key terms and related considerations around these investments, they can be better prepared to raise funds from angel investors to position their companies for future success."

This week, we’ll turn to MoFo partner and head of our FDA Regulatory + Life Sciences Compliance practice Bethany Hills to lead session 4 on COVID-19: FDA and Compliance Issues with Testing, Vaccines, and Therapies.