Mr. Terry joins Rimon from Gunderson Dettmer, a Silicon Valley law firm specializing in representing emerging growth companies, where he co-launched the firm’s first international office in Beijing. Previously we was a partner at DLA Piper, one of the world’s largest law firms. Mr. Terry has extensive experience representing his clients on cross-border investments, market…

On June 16 San Francisco-based rideshare service Uber Technologies filed notice that it intends to appeal a decision issued by the California Labor Commissioner earlier this month, which determined that a former driver should have been classified as an employee, not an independent contractor. The driver, Barbara Berwick, sought unpaid wages, expenses, and penalties under…

So how do biotech ventures govern themselves to run efficiently while complying with state corporate law statutes and state and federal securities laws and regulations imposed by stock exchanges? Frugality that is often self-imposed by scientific founders and then endorsed by the angel investors and venture capital company investors that follow sequentially tend to result…

The public securities markets and the underwriters that lead biotech companies into them dictate a common capital structure suitable for IPOs, which structure almost always deviates starkly from the capital structure of the venture at inception and during its growth phase. Startups frequently commence corporate life structured as limited liability companies with a few founders…

Mindful that this series of articles describes biotech ventures that are ripe for initial public offerings even before launching an income-producing drug product into the commercial market, the paramount objective for all such ventures is to manufacture drugs and commence marketing, sales and distribution thereof as soon as possible. As you read in the previous…

For a drug discovery start-up, patent protection of the intellectual property underlying the commercialization pursuit is critically important. If the company is a university or research institution spin-out that obtained licensed rights to intellectual property through a technology transfer, either the licensor or the licensee – as set forth in the License Agreement — must pursue…

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration regulates new drug approvals in a process that is extremely thorough, lengthy and expensive. Regulations apply to a drug candidate’s product development phase, the approval process and after approval. Failure to comply could have serious business and financial con-sequences to a biotech venture, including the FDA’s refusal to approve…

Many biotech ventures begin life as an invention conceived by a scientist/professor working in a laboratory at a federally-funded university or scientific institute. The intellectual property underlying such inventions is owned by the academic institution, a potentially valuable asset to be nurtured. Since enactment of the Bayh-Dole Act in 1980, academic institutions through their technology…

How common it is to hear groans and complaints in the startup sector of the U.S. life sciences industry about the extreme difficulty facing entrepreneurs who are trying to finance the launch, development and growth of a drug discovery venture. We hear that angel investors – both individuals and funds — lack interest in investing…

So Facebook filed its IPO papers, and the numbers are eye-popping.  The company appears to be worth about $100 billion, or a bit more than the GDP of Tunisia.  Others shade it a bit lower, but one thing is certain: it’s good to be Facebook.   Facebook is special because, in network economic terms, its…