United States: Top 10 Intellectual Property And Regulatory Legal Issues For Biotech Start-Ups

03 October 2008

Article by Kelli N. Watson Francuzenko, Judith Toffenetti and Jennifer S. Geetter

Start-up biotech companies should address these key legal issues with the aid of legal counsel.
Biotechnology start-ups face a dizzying array of business and legal requirements and a limited budget that forces them to prioritize where they expend valuable compliance funds on outside legal counsel. In the rush to stay cash-flow positive, attract investors and expand the platform while feeding as much capital as possible into research and development efforts to accelerate the maturity of the product line and its commercialization, start-up biotechs must make tough choices about the legal issues that require a share of the capital as well.

Although each business is unique, there are certain common experiences that lend themselves to generalization. The following is a top 10 list of critical legal issues that start-up biotech companies should make an effort to address with the aid of legal counsel, even when the capital squeeze is intense....

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