Daniel M. Scolnick

Daniel M. Scolnick is a partner in the Life Sciences group at Goodwin. Dr. Scolnick concentrates his practice in intellectual property law, including strategic patent prosecution and counseling, licensing, developing therapeutic exclusivity strategies, due diligence, and other transactional support for pharmaceutical, biotech, life sciences, and chemical companies. He is a registered patent attorney and holds a PhD in Biochemistry and Biophysics. He joined Goodwin in 2023.

Dr. Scolnick’s clients include startup and midsize biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, venture capital groups, and Fortune 500 companies. His clients turn to him for matters that arise in the development and marketing of products in all areas of life sciences, including therapeutic antibodies, protein therapeutics, cell and gene therapy, stem cells, CAR-T, small molecules, other biologics, diagnostics, and devices.

As a PhD candidate and a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Scolnick acquired extensive experience in biochemistry, molecular biology, cell-based technologies, viral vectors, protein chemistry, and genetics. As an undergraduate, Dr. Scholnick’s research concentrated on synthetic organic chemistry where he focused on defining the structure and function of anticonvulsants by synthesizing various compounds and having them tested in  animal models. Dr. Scolnick’s experience also includes materials science work where he performed synthesis and analytical work at the University of Pennsylvania’s chemistry department as a summer fellow investigating the synthesis and purification techniques involving nanomaterials.

Dr. Scolnick has also authored eight peer-reviewed scientific articles including one that was published in the journal Nature that described the cloning and characterization of a novel cell cycle gene that has been subsequently found to be intricately involved in the progression of many cancers.

Representative matters include:

• Advising start-up clients on comprehensive patent strategies to support the development of novel therapeutics*
• Conducting IP due diligence on behalf of pharma, biotech, health care venture capital funds, venture capital firms, and investment funds*
• Conducting internal IP due diligence reviews and audits on behalf of pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical, and medical device companies in preparation for partnering, financing, and public offerings*
• Pandion Therapeutics, Inc. on patent matters relating to its IL-2 mutein for auto-immune disease, including patent matters leading to its $135.0 million IPO and its acquisition by Merck & Co for $1.85 billion*
• Interius Biotherapeutics, Inc. on patent matters relating to its in vivo CAR-T therapies, including patent matters leading to is Series A financing*
• Trevena, Inc. on patent matters relating to Olinvyk® for pain management, including patent matters leading to its IPO*
• Invisible Sentinel, Inc. on patent matters relating to its Veriflow® technology, including patent matters leading to its acquisition by BioMerieux*
• Seismic Therapeutic, Inc. on patent matters relating to its platform technology, including matters relating to is ~$100 million Series A financing*
• Viridian Therapeutics, Inc. on patent matters relating to VRDN-001, an anti-IGF-1R antibody for the treatment of thyroid eye disease, including patent matters relating to its merger with miRagen Therapeutics, Inc. and ~$300 million follow-on offering*
• Preparing and filing patent applications and securing patents for protein therapeutics, antibody therapeutics, cell and gene therapies, nucleotide technologies (e.g., siRNA, mRNA, and antisense), viral vectors, vaccines, diagnostics, small molecules, formulations, chemical coatings, polymers, drug delivery systems, extended-release systems, nanotechnology, and medical devices*
• Providing advice to companies on the interactions of FDA and patent law for drugs, biologics, and medical device products*
• Providing legal opinions on issues of patentability, inventorship, ownership, infringement, invalidity, enforceability, and freedom to operate*
• Providing patent counseling to companies going through an initial public offering (IPO)* and follow-on public financings*
• Advising companies to determine patents that are eligible for patent term extension (PTE) and patent listings in the Orange Book and Purple Book*
• Coordinating supplementary protection certificate security in jurisdictions outside of the United States*
• Providing counsel on and preparing non-disclosure agreements, consulting agreements, license agreements, and collaboration/joint venture agreements for life science companies*

*Denotes matters completed prior to joining Goodwin

Daniel was named a Recommended Lawyer by the Legal 500 US for his work in Patents: Prosecution (including Re-Examination and Post-Grant Proceedings) in 2024.

• Co-Author, “Federal Circuit Continues to Dismantle Diagnostic Patents,” Troutman Pepper, August 4, 2022
• Co-Author, “Safe Harbor Exemption May Not Be So Safe,” Troutman Pepper, July 22, 2022