The Life Sciences & Healthcare team offers you a broad range of expertise in the pharmaceutical, medical and biotechnology field combined with long-term extensive IP experience which includes advising innovative pharmaceutical and medical device companies. Our team also has an enviable track record of success representing clients at opposition and appeal hearings before the EPO.

The team has a wealth of experience in managing global patent portfolios experience in the following areas: small molecule drugs, dosage regimes, new chemical entities, peptide and antibody therapeutics, pharmaceutical formulations, supplementary protection certificates (SPCs) and medical devices.

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Meet the team

Below are the key members of the Life sciences & healthcare team.

Isobel Finnie

Isobel Finnie

UK and European Patent Attorney

Isobel is a Partner in our Life Sciences & Healthcare team who is highly regarded for using a collaborative and pragmatic approach to develop and implement IP strategies to support commercial requirements of SMEs in the life sciences and healthcare sectors. She has counselled clients from spin-out, though asset acquisition and IPO.

Her multi-disciplinary practice embraces a wide variety of life science technologies, especially in the fields of biotechnology and biochemistry. In the healthcare space she has developed considerable technical and professional expertise in the fields of cancer therapeutics and cancer pro-drugs, dermatology, biomarkers, diagnostics and companion diagnostics, vaccines, diabetes therapeutics, immunology, antibody-based therapeutics, stem cell technologies, DNA sequencing technologies and medical devices.

Joseph Lenthall

Joseph Lenthall

UK and European Patent Attorney

Joe is a Partner in our Life Sciences and Healthcare team with particular expertise in complex multi-party EPO Oppositions and Appeals. Recent cases include defending patents relating to antibody-drug conjugates, protein kinase inhibitors, thin film drug delivery and companion diagnostics.

His extensive experience of EPO validity challenges feeds back into his drafting, prosecution and patent management practice to ensure that he provides robust strategic advice for his clients. Joe frequently works closely with in-house counsel to deliver outcomes aligned with the client’s business needs.

Soni Basra

Sandeep Basra

German and European Patent Attorney

Sandeep is a Partner in our Life Sciences & Healthcare team and is a German and European Patent Attorney. Having spent many years in research, Sandeep is an inventor on patent applications related to small molecule synthesis. This experience has served her well when working directly with inventors to capture their invention in the most effective way.

A majority of her current work focuses on patent drafting and prosecution, opposition and infringement matters concerning German and European patents in the area of pharmaceuticals, particularly concerning small molecules, novel formulations and second medical uses. Sandeep also advises clients on SPC matters.

David Hammond

David Hammond

UK and European Patent Attorney

David is a partner in our Life Sciences & Healthcare team and, with degrees in both chemistry and DNA technology, is one of our go-to attorneys for innovations in the pharma and biotech areas. He advises multi-nationals, universities, start-ups and SMEs on contentious and non-contentious issues to shape their IP strategies, giving clear, commercially-focussed advice and managing global portfolios directed to biomarker diagnostics, surgical devices, small molecule therapeutics for treating ocular diseases, cancer and neuropathic and neurodegenerative disorders, combination therapies, nucleic acid technologies and acne treatments.

Jo Deas

Joanna Deas

UK and European Patent Attorney

Joanna is a Partner in our Life Sciences & Healthcare team and has experience working with several of the top pharmaceutical and medical device companies.  Not only does she have experience handling global IP portfolios, she also has a proven track-record handling many opposition and appeal cases before the EPO including high value business critical cases for Novo Nordisk, Baxter Healthcare and Edwards Lifesciences. She is a keen advocate of setting up mock opposition and appeal hearings to trial run and stress-test cases.

Lisa Williams

Lisa Williams

UK and European Patent Attorney

Lisa is a partner in our Life Sciences & Healthcare team who is notable for the strong relationships that she establishes with the inventors and clients that she works with. Although most of Lisa’s time is spent working with large multinational European companies, she also has close contacts with clients in the US.

Lisa’s practice covers a range of technologies, with particular focus in the areas of healthcare monitor systems and other medical technology. This includes drafting and prosecuting patent applications relating to medical devices (such as blood pressure, oxygen saturation, and heart rate monitors), diagnostic imaging, patient monitoring, sleep and respiratory care, and personal care devices.

Alan Chamerlain

Alan Chamberlain

UK and European Patent Attorney

Alan joined Haseltine Lake Kempner in 2001, and qualified as a Chartered Patent Attorney and a European Patent Attorney in 2005. Alan has been a partner since 2011. Alan has gained extensive experience of drafting and prosecuting patent applications in a number of technology fields for several direct clients, with much of Alan’s practice relating to healthcare and medical devices.

In the healthcare field, Alan has worked on devices and algorithms that are used in monitoring activity and health status of a patient, including those used in fall detectors, physical activity monitoring, PPG sensing, and blood pressure monitors; personal care devices such as hair clippers, epilators, shavers and toothbrushes; and also computer systems and programs used in healthcare applications and the management of health-related data.

Gemma Robin

Gemma Robin

UK and European Patent Attorney

As a Partner in our Life Sciences and Healthcare team, Gemma has particular experience in biomechanical and medical engineering, having worked extensively in the fields of implantable prosthetic devices, surgical instrumentation, and related technologies.

Gemma also has a significant Artificial Intelligence practice, handling a wide range of complex AI subject matter with a particular focus on explainability, safety, and verification of AI models. Gemma has extensive experience in drafting and prosecuting patent applications in the fields of Reinforcement Learning (including Safe RL), Transfer Learning, and Distributed Learning, as well as applications of probabilistic graphical models, control theory and optimisation. Gemma’s many years of engineering and telecommunications experience mean she is comfortable handling subject matter at the intersection of AI and multiple related disciplines, as well as AI deployment solutions over cloud, fog and Internet of Things networks.

Gemma enjoys building excellent working relationships with in-house counsel, engineers and researchers, pursuing a collaborative approach to securing high quality, commercially valuable protection for innovations at the forefront of medical and AI development.

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Andrew Flaxman

Andrew Flaxman

UK and European Patent Attorney

Andrew has gained extensive experience in the field of healthcare and medical devices since qualifying as a patent attorney in in 2010.  Andrew has helped to develop extensive patent portfolios for numerous companies in the healthcare sector, ranging from start-ups to multinational organisations, helping to secure protection for inventions relating to ophthalmic laser surgical systems, respiratory care, medical image processing techniques, computer-implemented methods for managing and analysing medical data, and personal care devices, such as hair care devices, shavers and toothbrushes.

As a partner in the Life Sciences and Healthcare team, Andrew has developed strong relationships with local start-ups and spinouts in the healthcare sector, and holds regular IP clinics as part of his role as IP Advisor in Residence at a local business incubator, SETsquared Bristol.

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Insights from our team

Other cross disciplinary teams