Samantak Ghosh Gets Involved Early in IP Portfolio Development at Gilead Sciences

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Chemists study reactions, an integral part of the research process. When they don’t achieve the desired result, they alter the conditions and run the experiment again, often ad nauseum. Samantak Ghosh, associate general counsel for IP litigation at Gilead Sciences, knows this drill all too well, having performed countless hours of research while earning a PhD in chemistry at Stanford.

Eventually the repetitiveness, the trial and error—the literal scientific work behind research—became too much to bear. “That exercise was taking up the bulk of my day-to-day work. I didn’t find it exciting because it seems that I already knew how to handle these experiments. I already knew how to change certain reaction conditions. I was not finding it intellectually stimulating,” Ghosh explains.

Searching for a new career path, he called upon a different kind of research: the personality test. Based on a personality-based career guidance, “Law was one of the top careers recommended,” he remembers. He enrolled in patent law classes and was on a new path. “I loved the classes and decided this is what I want to do. I took the law school exams while in grad school, and after graduating from Stanford with my PhD, went straight to law school to pursue my JD,” says Ghosh.

Since joining Gilead seven years ago, his role has evolved, today spending most of his time managing IP disputes, developing IP strategy, and managing risk. “We’ve learned the value of getting IP litigation attorneys involved early on in IP portfolio development and management. As litigators, we get to see patents and IPs being challenged all the time. That allows us to have insightful perspective to assess the value of the IP that’s being developed,” says Ghosh. While his core function involves managing complex IP-related disputes, he has managed high-profile patent disputes, including one went all the way to  the Supreme Court.

Gilead has made meaningful impacts in viral diseases and cancer; advancements Ghosh calls amazing and inspiring. Its pioneering work in HIV has rendered a once deadly disease into one that is now preventable by virtue of its thirteen HIV medications, one of which is the first-ever single-tablet HIV treatment, and more recently preventing HIV through twice-a-year injections. “Imagine the journey that’s been made over the years by this company,” says Ghosh.

Ghosh considers himself lucky to have worked on both small molecule medications (administered as tablets) and large molecule medications (such as antibodies injected directly into patients’ veins), understanding the science behind both therapies owing to his chemistry and molecular biology background. “I had worked on what are known as modified nucleotides, components of DNA and RNA. You can chemically modify them to see if they can have therapeutic applications. One of Gilead’s major HIV drug products was also modified artificial nucleotide, right in my wheelhouse. It was amazing to use my technology and scientific background to marry science and law and contribute in a meaningful way,” says Ghosh.

In addition to the several antiviral medications he’s worked on, Ghosh managed a high-profile case involving CAR-T therapy, in which patients’ T-cells are extracted, genetically modified, then reinjected into their bodies to destroy specific types of blood cancers. “It’s one of the most exciting technologies I’ve ever worked with. It’s been amazing to work with the scientists and my colleagues and the people on the manufacturing side of things to understand how different aspects of innovation have to fall in place for these technologies to work,” says Ghosh.

Long before coming to Gilead, Ghosh had worked at WilmerHale, where as a patent prosecutor he procured patents and as an IP Litigator, he litigated disputes across an array of technologies. “I represented various companies in the life sciences industries, from small startups to large pharmaceutical companies, not only in procuring patents and disputing patents, but also in due diligence and acquisition projects providing advice,” says Ghosh.

Time spent in the prosecutor and litigator waters provided Ghosh a unique perspective and laid the foundation for his law career. As a front-line litigator, he witnessed strategies employed by litigators that shredded patents. This insight molded him into a formidable prosecutor. “Trying to obtain patents for my clients, I spotted vulnerabilities well ahead of their becoming major or fatal liabilities, and I took care of them preemptively. Likewise, being a patent prosecutor made me a better patent litigator because I understood why a patent was drafted the way it was,” says Ghosh.

Beyond managing complex IP issues, Ghosh enjoys mentoring colleagues and is gratified to see them grow. He advises young attorneys to stay curious and search for the “why.” “You need to understand what the value-add of some project or some task or a skill is to you personally or to the team. That allows you to focus your energy, your resources, and your time more efficiently,” says Ghosh.

---