Dr. Catherine Liang manages IP portfolios and obtains patent protection for pharmaceutical and medical device companies. She also performs IP due diligence reviews on behalf of venture capital firms and is experienced in evaluating freedom-to-operate and validity positions. Her strengths include helping clients identify successful patent strategies and leveraging IP to achieve their business goals.
Dr. Liang has worked in the areas of small molecule cancer drugs, therapeutic formulations, ophthalmic drug delivery products, and cardiovascular devices. Her prosecution work for Calistoga Pharmaceuticals helped secure key IP for their lead cancer therapy. Her contributions in IP due diligence helped facilitate Calistoga's $600 million acquisition by Gilead Sciences.
Dr. Liang earned her Ph.D. in organic/polymer chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, where she was a Kodak Fellow. At Berkeley, she studied novel catalytic macromolecular architectures in the laboratories of Professor Jean Fréchet. After completing her Ph.D. she was awarded a post-doctoral fellowship by the National Science Foundation to study biomimetic peptide dendrimers at the University of Bern, Switzerland. Prior to graduate school, Dr. Liang was a medicinal chemist for several years at Merck Research Laboratories where she developed novel compounds for diabetes therapy.