Alan B. Leeds

Alan assists clients with the full spectrum of commercial activities, from early-stage research collaborations to global strategic alliances for the development and commercialization of products. In addition, he advises on financing transactions such as equity investments and royalty monetization with a focus on the life sciences industry.

Alan is the author or co-author of a number of articles relating to the life sciences industry, including, in the New Jersey Law Journal, “Keep One Eye on the Collaboration, And the Other on Exit Events,” and “Dividing the Intellectual Property Pie in the Life Sciences Industry.” Alan is also a contributor to Morgan Lewis’s Emerging Life Sciences Companies Deskbook. He has spoken on subjects related to the life sciences industry at various life sciences–related conferences, including Licensing Executives Society (LES) annual meetings.

• Merck in its exclusive license and collaboration agreement with Kelun-Biotech valued up to $9.3 billion to develop seven investigational preclinical antibody-drug conjugates for the treatment of cancer
• Merck in its collaboration agreement valued up to $3.65 billion with Orna Therapeutics to discover, develop, and commercialize circular RNA (oRNA) therapies in multiple programs, including vaccines and therapeutics in the areas of infectious disease and oncology, as well as Merck’s $100 million Series B investment in Orna Therapeutics
• Merck in its up to $5.76 billion strategic collaboration with Eisai Co. Ltd. for the worldwide co-development and co-commercialization of Eisai's Lenvima (lenvatinib mesylate)
• Merck in its up to $8.5 billion strategic oncology collaboration with AstraZeneca to co-develop and co-commercialize AstraZeneca's Lynparza (olaparib) and AstraZeneca's selwnetinib
• Merck in its $14.2 billion agreement to sell its consumer care business to Bayer
• Merck in its collaboration with Bayer to market and develop its portfolio of soluble guanylate cyclase modulators, under which Bayer receives a $1 billion up-front payment with the potential for additional milestone payments
• Merck in its joint venture with Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, a leading Indian multinational pharmaceutical company, to develop, manufacture and commercialize new combinations and formulations of innovative, branded generics in the emerging markets
• Merck in its agreement with Roche, through their respective subsidiaries, to improve the treatment, diagnosis, and awareness of chronic hepatitis C (HCV) infection
• Merck in its agreement with Gilead for the distribution of Atripla® in countries located primarily in Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region
• Celgene in its strategic agreement with BeiGene Ltd. to develop and commercialize BeiGene's investigational PD-1 inhibitor, with BeiGene receiving upfront fees totaling $263 million, up to $980 million in miles tones, royalties and a $150 million equity investment
• Celgene in its collaboration agreement with Prothena Corp. to develop new therapies for neurodegenerative diseases, with Prothena receiving a $100 million upfront payment, a $50 million equity investment, and potential license payments, milestones and royalties
• Celgene in its drug-discovery collaboration with Cancer Research Technology (CRT), to discover, develop and commercialize new anti-cancer treatments centered on mRNA translation
• Regeneron in its up to $1 billion agreement with Alnylam Pharmaceuticals for the development and commercialization of new RNA interference therapeutics for diseases in the eye, central nervous system and liver. As part of the transaction, Regeneron made a $400 million investment in Alnylam equity.
• Regeneron in its agreement with bluebird bio to develop and commercialize new cell therapies for cancer. As part of the transaction, Regeneron made a $100 million investment in bluebird bio common stock.
• Regeneron in its licensing and collaboration agreement with Intellia Therapeutics, Inc. to advance CRISPR/Cas gene-editing technology for in vivo therapeutic development, with Intellia receiving a $75 million upfront payment and potential milestone and royalties
• Regeneron in its clinical collaboration with ISA Pharmaceuticals B.V., with ISA receiving an upfront payment and an equity investment in exchange for an option for an exclusive global license
• Lundbeck in its development and commercialization collaboration with Myriad for the Alzheimer's disease drug Flurizan with a $100 million up-front payment and additional milestones 
• Biovail in its more than $100 million product divestiture, strategic collaboration and research and development alliance with Kos Pharmaceuticals in the area of cardiovascular disease
• Biovail in its license agreement with Kyowa Hakko Kirin for the US and Canadian rights to commercialize products containing istradefylline
• Biovail in its $510 million acquisition of US commercialization rights to Wellbutrin XL® from GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK) 
• Biovail in its acquisition of certain AMPAKINE® compounds and associated intellectual property from Cortex Pharmaceuticals