Director, Intellectual Property

Eupraxia Pharmaceuticals; Kirkland (WA); Hybrid; USD 199,000 - 256,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus available

Competitive benefits package

Job summary

Eupraxia Pharmaceuticals seeks a Director of Intellectual Property to lead patent strategy and portfolio management across biotech programs. Counsel senior leaders, drive filings, manage external counsel, and align IP with business goals in a hybrid Seattle, WA or Vancouver, BC environment.

Responsibilities include freedom-to-operate analyses, IP due diligence for transactions, and governance of trade secrets, budgets, and team leadership. Travel domestically and internationally is required.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of IP/patent law experience.
• Biotech/pharma sector experience.
• Detailed understanding of U.S. and foreign patent prosecution.

Responsibilities

• Define and lead global IP strategy across product candidates and platforms.
• Coordinate with outside IP counsel for filing, prosecution, and portfolio management.
• Perform freedom-to-operate analyses and monitor IP landscape.

Skills

IP law experience

Biotech/Pharma experience

Patent prosecution

Leadership communication

Travel ability

Education

Life sciences degree

Tools

Microsoft Word

Excel

SharePoint

PowerPoint

Job description

About Us

Eupraxia is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing locally delivered, extended-release products that have the potential to address therapeutic areas with high unmet medical need. Diffusphere™, a proprietary, polymer-based micro-sphere technology, is designed to facilitate targeted drug delivery of both existing and novel drugs. The technology is designed to support an extended duration of effect and delivery of drugs in a hyper-localized fashion, targeting only the tissues that physicians want to treat. We believe the potential for fewer adverse events may be achieved through the precision targeting and the stable and flat delivery of the active ingredient when using the Diffusphere™ technology, versus the peaks and troughs seen with more traditional drug delivery methods. The precision of Eupraxia's Diffusphere™ technology platform has the potential to augment and transform existing FDA-approved drugs to improve their safety, tolerability, efficacy and duration of effect. The potential uses in therapeutic areas may go beyond pain and inflammatory gastrointestinal disease, where Eupraxia currently is developing advanced treatments, also to be applicable in oncology, infectious disease and other critical disease areas.

Eupraxia's EP-104GI is currently running both a Phase 1b/2a and Phase 2b trial, the RESOLVE trials, for the treatment of EoE. EP-104GI is administered as an injection into the esophageal wall, providing local delivery of drug. This is a unique treatment approach for EoE. In addition, Eupraxia is developing a pipeline of later and earlier-stage long-acting formulations. Potential pipeline indications include candidates for GI diseases, inflammatory diseases and oncology, each designed to improve on the activity and tolerability of currently approved drugs. For further details about Eupraxia, please visit the Company's website at:www.eupraxiapharma.com.

Job Description

Role Summary

Eupraxia Pharmaceuticals is seeking a dynamic Director of Intellectual Property with extensive experience within the biotech/pharma space. This position will be responsible for managing intellectual property matters critical to the Company’s success, counselling senior Company business leaders, developing and implementing patent portfolio strategies, coordinating outside IP counsel, gathering IP competitive intelligence, and coordinating IP due diligence in support of business transactions. The successful candidate will have significant depth of experience in diverse aspects of patent law practice, high technical competency in the life sciences, and will be adept at serving as a trusted business advisor

Reports to

Executive Vice President, Research and Development

Location

Seattle, WA or Vancouver, BC (hybrid work environment)

Key Responsibilities

Patent strategy and portfolio management

• Own the Company’s global patent strategy across all product candidates and platform technologies, aligning filing decisions with commercial and regulatory exclusivity objectives.
• Take the lead in Identifying, evaluating, and prioritizing inventions arising from clinical programs, R&D, CMC, formulation, and device development, and drive the process of protecting the inventions through patent applications, or through the implementing the appropriate trade secret protection mechanisms
• Direct outside counsel in drafting, filing and prosecuting — worldwide applications (provisional, PCT, national phase), and manage the patent lifecycle, including continuations, divisionals, patent term adjustment/extension, and Orange Book (or equivalent) listing decisions.
• Maintain the IP asset register and portfolio maps by molecule, indication, formulation, method of use, and manufacturing process, mapped against expected commercial life.

Freedom-to-operate and competitive intelligence

• Perform initial exploratory freedom-to-operate analyses for Eupraxia’s development programs and to support potential licensing transactions
• As required on a case-by-case basis, coordinate with external counsel formal freedom-to-operate analyses for Eupraxia’s programs or for licensing transactions
• Monitor the competitor and third-party patent landscape and developing IP law, and brief R&D and executive leadership on developments affecting program risk or opportunity.

Transactions and cross-functional support

• Support Business Development and Finance in performing due diligence for potential financing, licensing, collaboration, and sponsored research agreements
• Support Legal, Business Development and External Counsel during negotiation of IP terms for licensing, collaboration, sponsored research, material transfer, CDA/NDA, and manufacturing/supply agreements,
• Partner with regulatory affairs and external counsel on the interplay between patent strategy and regulatory exclusivities (NCE/data, orphan drug, patent term extension) across FDA, Health Canada, and EMA, and partner with investor relations on IP-related disclosure.

Trade secrets, enforcement, and risk management

• Review and maintain trade secret protection, confidentiality, and invention assignment practices across employees, consultants, and CROs/CMOs.
• Assess and manage inventorship, ownership, and freedom-to-operate risk arising from collaborations, academic license-ins, and contract research/manufacturing relationships.
• Support the Executive Team and external counsel in coordinating opposition, re-examination, IPR, and litigation strategy
• Maintain the trademark portfolio for corporate and product brands.

Governance, budget, and team leadership

• Own the IP budget and manage a network of outside patent firms across key jurisdictions for cost-effective, high-quality execution.
• Report portfolio status, key risks, and strategic recommendations to the executive team on a regular cadence.
• Maintain IP-related policies (inventorship, publication review, conflict of interest), train scientific staff on invention capture and confidentiality, and support special projects and legal research as needed
• Participate in special projects and legal research as needed.

Requirements

• BS/MS/PhD in life sciences — biology, chemistry, biochemistry, or another technical degree relevant to biotechnology (advanced degree preferred).
• 8+ years of intellectual property/patent law experience, including at least 5 years in biotech, pharma, or life sciences.
• Detailed understanding of U.S. and foreign patent prosecution, including preparing and filing applications with the USPTO and internationally, preparing substantive responses to office actions, and managing domestic and international portfolios.
• Experience supporting Business Development and Legal reviewing agreements with business partners and service providers.
• Understanding of the healthcare ecosystem, including regulatory landscapes, reimbursement environments, and therapeutic areas such as GI, immunology, and specialty therapeutics.
• Proven ability to influence leadership teams while operating in a fast-paced, deadline-oriented, heavily regulated environment, with strong collaborative and interpersonal skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, planning, and organizational skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities.
• Ability to travel domestically and internationally
• Proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel, SharePoint, and PowerPoint.

Additional attributes

• Highly motivated self-starter with strong initiative in identifying operational improvements.
• Proactive problem-solver who works effectively in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.

Salary Range

$199,000 - $256,000 annually

Within the posted range, individual pay is determined by job-related skills, relevant experience, education and/or training. Please note that the range details above reflect the base pay only. A bonus will be available based on performance and remaining in post for the agreed contract duration. We also offer a competitive benefits package.

Equal Opportunity Employer Statement

Eupraxia Pharmaceuticals is an equal opportunity employer and considers qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, colour, creed, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, marital or civil partnership status, pregnancy, age, disability, veteran status or any other protected factor under federal, state or local law.