Challenges with Structuring Technology and Life Science Deals
hosted by the New York/New Jersey Chapter

Brian Shanahan, Vice President & General Legal Counsel-Transactions, Teva Pharmaceuticals

Brian Shanahan brings over twenty-five years of legal experience advising clients in the biopharmaceutical industry.  Brian has closed and integrated pharma M&A deals collectively valued at over $65 billion.  In addition, he has successfully negotiated multiple biopharmaceutical licenses as well as development and commercialization collaborations, most recently the 2023 worldwide collaboration with Sanofi to further develop duvakitug, Teva’s anti-TL1A antibody, for the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases. 

Brian joined Teva in 2002, where he has contributed to the growth of the company into a leading biopharmaceutical enterprise, with over 35,000 employees dedicated to meet the therapeutic needs of approximately 200 million people every day.  Prior to joining Teva, Brian was an associate in the Business and Finance practice group at the law firm Morgan Lewis.  Brian earned his J.D. at Georgetown University Law Center, and as an undergrad double-majored in International Business and Marketing at Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business, with a concentration in Government.

Joseph Casino, IP Chair at Wiggin & Dana, Managing Trustee of Sun Patent Trust

Joe’s 25+ year career is highlighted by his work as lead counsel in hard-fought patent litigations throughout the US and in Patent Office proceedings. As the leader of Wiggin and Dana’s Intellectual Property Practice Group, he advises clients on patent office disputes, complex licensing, patent monetization, patent portfolio development, and worldwide intellectual property strategic matters. Joe also manages Sun Patent Trust, a licensing company with over 5,000 patents in variety of technologies.

Joe has been the lead negotiator for license and cross-license discussions involving some of the largest patent portfolios. He is also the Senior Vice-President of Standards for Licensing Executive Society, working on IP industry standards.

His work has earned him industry recognition, being named one of the world’s leading IP strategists by IAM Strategy 300, as well as Super Lawyer honors.

Joe received his J.D. cum laude from Brooklyn Law School, where he was an editor for the Brooklyn Journal of International Law and received various academic awards. He earned a B.S. cum laude in computer science from Brooklyn College. Joe is also the chair of Council for Unity, a not-for-profit whose mission is to empower students, individuals and groups with the tools necessary to promote unity, safety and achievement in schools, communities, law enforcement agencies and correctional facilities

Patrick Genestin, Chief Buisness Officer, Stada U.S.

Patrick Genestin is the Chief Business Officer at Stada US. Prior to Stada, Patrick was Chief Business Officer at 1910 Genetics, an artificial intelligence enabled drug discovery platform business. Prior to joining 1910 Genetics, Genestin served as Vice President of Business Development and Pipeline Strategy at Hikma Pharmaceuticals and member of the Specialty & Generics leadership team. In addition, Genestin was Vice President, Business Development & Licensing at Sandoz, a Novartis company and member of the Sandoz North America Executive Committee. Genestin also held various finance roles of increasing responsibilities at CSL Behring and Sanofi.

Patrick has led the development of multiple unique collaborations, including spearheading a partnership which resulted in the approval and commercialization of novel prescription digital therapeutics designed to effectively treat disease and improve clinical outcomes for patients. He also established a network of strategic partnerships that resulted in a portfolio of general medicines assets, creating one of the leading injectable generics businesses in the U.S.

His role at Stada focuses on licensing and acquiring assets for the company. A native of France, Genestin received his bachelor's degree from Audencia (École Supérieure de Commerce) and holds a master’s of business administration from Penn State University.

Robin Sitver, CEO of SitverStrategy, LLC

Robin is the CEO/Founder of SitverStrategy LLC, a boutique M&A consultancy and a board member of Tempo Therapeutics. She co-chairs the Association for Corporate Growth New Jersey Corporate Development group and is a Certified Licensing Professional (CLP). Robin holds an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a BA in Computer Science from Brandeis University.Robin is the CEO/Founder of SitverStrategy LLC, a boutique M&A consultancy. Robin is a board member of Tempo Therapeutics. She co-chairs the Association for Corporate Growth New Jersey Corporate Development group and is a Certified Licensing Professional (CLP). Robin holds an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a BA in Computer Science from Brandeis University.

Moderator: Fernando (Fern) Salles, CBO, Kallyope, Inc.

Fern has spent 24 years in industry in a variety of strategic and business development roles.  He is currently CBO at Kallyope, Inc., a clinical-stage company focused on innovative migraine and metabolism therapeutics where he led the acquisition of a phase 2b-ready asset.  Prior to Kallyope, Fern was SVP and Head of US and EU Business development at I-Mab Biopharma, a China-based global biotech publicly listed on the NASDAQ exchange.  He co-led the negotiations with Abbvie on what was awarded the BioCentury/BayHelix Healthcare Deal of the Year award in 2020 and helped drive I-Mab’s valuation growth from 900mm to greater than 5B Mkt Cap.  Previously, he held senior leadership positions at Teva Pharmaceuticals as VP of Global Search and Evaluation of their branded products portfolio and as Executive Dir, Strategic Licensing and Acquisitions lead for Ophthalmology, Neuroscience, and drug delivery technologies at Merck Research Labs.  Prior to those he held senior positions at Schering-Plough, Organon, Purdue Pharma, and Cogent Neuroscience.  Fern earned his PhD in Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology at Stony Brook University.  He then spent 9 years doing research in Academic and not-for-profit organizations prior to joining industry.  He also has the Certified Licensing Professional certification.