Benjamin H. Pensak

In his transactional work, Ben handles arrangements related to discovery, development, manufacture and supply, marketing, and outsourcing for life sciences companies and other innovative and developed technology companies. He also works with research organizations and institutions. Recognized by Chambers USA, Ben is hailed as having “an extremely high legal and life sciences IQ . . . . He is quick on his feet and is an excellent technical drafter.”

While earning his undergraduate degree in religion, Ben conducted a range of microbiology research focused primarily on gene therapy.

• Eli Lilly in its in-license and collaboration agreement with, and equity investment in, Sigilon Therapeutics related to the development of encapsulated cell therapies for the potential treatment of type 1 diabetes; in-license and collaboration agreement with, and equity investment in, CureVac AG related to the development and commercialization of cancer vaccine products based on CureVac's proprietary RNActive technology using messenger RNA technology to target tumor neoantigens for a more robust anti-cancer immune response; in-license agreement with Nektar Therapeutics to develop and commercialize NKTR-358, an IL-2 targeting drug designed to treat autoimmune diseases; out-license agreement with, and equity investment in, Ignyta Inc., related to taladegib, an orally available, hedgehog/smoothened inhibitor; development and commercialization agreement with AstraZeneca related to BACE-inhibiting molecules; development and in-license agreement with Immunocore related to Immunocore’s Immune Mobilising Monoclonal T-Cell Receptor Against Cancer technology; out-license agreement with Sanofi for the potential Rx-to-OTC switch of Cialis®; co-development and co-commercialization agreement with Pfizer relating to tanezumab and other hNGF antibodies for the treatment of pain; and outward transfer of US rights to sepsis drug Xigris® to BioCritica, a newly created biotech company jointly owned by Lilly, Care Capital, and NovaQuest Capital
• Xencor in its collaboration and out-license agreement with Novartis related to the development and commercialization of therapeutics based on Xencor’s bispecific antibody technology or XmAb® Fc technologies; out-license agreement with Amgen to Xencor’s XmAb® technologies for use in cancer immunotherapy and inflammation; and discovery and out-license agreement with Novo Nordisk to jointly discover novel biologic drug candidates combining multiple Xencor XmAb® technologies
• Merck in its in-license and collaboration agreement with NGM Biopharmaceuticals for a wide range of preclinical biologics; agreement to sell its consumer care business to Bayer; and co-promotion agreement with Taiho Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. in Japan for pembrolizumab, Merck’s anti-PD-1 product sold as Keytruda
• MEI Pharma in its in-license agreement with Presage Biosciences Inc. for voruciclib, an oral and selective cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor to assist patients fighting cancer; and out-license agreement with Helsinn Group for the development and commercialization of pracinostat for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and other hematologic diseases
• Regeneron Pharmaceuticals in its in-licensing and collaboration agreement with Intellia Therapeutics to advance CRISPR/Cas gene-editing technology for in vivo therapeutic development
• Innovent Biologics in its co-development and co-commercialization agreement with Hanmi Pharmaceutical related to a bispecific antibody to be constructed using intellectual property contributions from both Hanmi and Innovent and enabling immunotherapy and targeted therapy at the same time; and development and in-license agreement with EpimAb Biotherapeutics for the development of bispecific antibodies using EpimAb’s Fabs-In-Tandem Immunoglobulin platform
• Merck Serono in its option and in-license agreement with Opexa Therapeutics for the development and commercialization of TcelnaTM, a T-cell therapy for those suffering from multiple sclerosis; and development, manufacturing, and commercialization collaboration with Dr. Reddy's Laboratories for a portfolio of biosimilar compounds in oncology primarily focused on monoclonal antibodies