LSIPR 50 2018: Personalised medicine: the way forward
Being part of a team that “discovers, develops, and delivers” transformational medicine is one of the reasons that Paul Golian’s job at Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) is so rewarding. Another is meeting patients that have benefited from the drugs he has worked on, something that makes him particularly proud.
As vice president and assistant counsel of IP at BMS, New-York based Golian plays a pivotal role in protecting the company’s new therapies.
“My team and I are laser-focused on protecting BMS’s innovations,” he tells LSIPR. This encompasses patent procurement, freedom to operate counselling, negotiating and managing IP provisions in agreements, and patent enforcement.
To achieve this, BMS has a team of patent attorneys and other professionals who work closely to secure and enforce the company’s IP rights around the world.
Evolution
Golian identifies two significant changes during his time at BMS that have provided him with development and leadership opportunities.The first was BMS’s evolution of the pipeline from small molecule assets (such as pills or tablets), to include many biologic assets that are grown in living cells and administered intravenously.
“With this evolution, my role changed to focus on more complex biology inventions,” he explains. “The patentability and freedom to operate considerations for biologics are very different from those of small molecule assets, and I have been fortunate to participate in growing and leading a group that focuses on these new biologics programmes.”
The second development happened in 2007 when BMS chose to transform from a traditional, diversified pharmaceutical company—focusing on many therapeutic areas as well as non-pharma businesses in areas of medical imaging, nutritionals, and medical devices—to a smaller but “highly focused” biopharma company.
