Aurion Biotech appoints chief legal officer
Aurion Biotech, a clinical-stage biotech with a mission to restore vision for patients via regenerative therapies, has appointed Dr. Jonathan Sparks as chief legal officer.
With offices in Seattle, Boston and Tokyo, Aurion Biotech’s first candidate is for the treatment of corneal edema secondary to endothelial dysfunction, and is one of the first clinically validated cell therapies for corneal care.
In addition to his role at Aurion, Dr. Jonathan Sparks is also a partner and chair of the Intellectual Property practice at McCarter & English, LLP. He has over 20 years of experience as a legal professional representing life science companies, both as outside counsel and as an executive at companies.
In his private practice, Dr. Sparks counsels clients on general intellectual property matters, including patent prosecution, domestic and foreign patent strategy, due diligence, and patent lifecycle management. He also has extensive experience with patentability, infringement, validity, and freedom-to-operate analysis.
Dr. Sparks has previously served as general counsel, chief Intellectual property counsel and chief compliance officer for Ocular Therapeutix, Inc., and general counsel for Applied Genetic Technologies Corporation.
Prior to starting his legal career, Dr. Sparks conducted research in the areas of physical biochemistry and molecular biology while obtaining his PhD at Texas A&M University. In addition to his PhD, Dr. Sparks holds a JD from Suffolk University Law School and a BA in Biochemistry from Ithaca College.
Dr. Sparks is a member of the Massachusetts Bar, the US Patent & Trademark Office, the American Intellectual Property Law Association, the Boston Patent Law Association and the Boston Bar Association.
