Biopharma Needs to Protect more than Crown Jewel IP to Stay Competitive

The problem of intellectual property theft is greater than most biopharma executives realize, but the real issue is that companies are protecting only a fraction of their IP.

“Companies, especially in biopharma, are used to protecting their crown jewels – their secret formulas and manufacturing expertise,” Anne Elise Herold Li, a partner in Crowell & Moring’s life sciences’ litigation, intellectual property and trade secrets group told BioSpace. What they’re not protecting is the foundational IP required to start a rival company. “That’s what’s at risk right now. A lot of new companies are trying to enter the market and they’re trying to get the basics right,” Li said.