About Kevin Buckley

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I am an attorney handling intellectual property, transactional and regulatory issues that make up the biotechnology commercialization process. As a partner in the St. Louis, Missouri office of Spencer Fane Britt & Browne LLP, I focus on commercializing biotechnology, life sciences and pharmaceutical technologies internationally. I have a decade of experience handling patent and transactional issues, including technology transfer and licensing, pharmaceutical life-cycle management, institutional collaborations, and the intellectual property aspects of venture finance. I also counsel clients on regulatory matters pending before the FDA, USDA and EPA. Prior to becoming a partner at Spencer Fane, I was the founder and President of Biotactica, LLC, a biotechnology commercialization law firm, and an attorney at an international law firm.

Prior to becoming an attorney, I was a biochemist in both academics and industry. I was fortunate to be raised just down the street from the University of California, San Diego and that's where I received a B.S. in Biochemistry and where I was a Research Scholar. While conducting research in the laboratory of Dr. Dennis Carson, head of the UCSD Cancer Center, I investigated the role of novel purine nucleoside analogs in autoimmune diseases and cytokine mediated cell responses including apoptosis, rheumatoid arthritis, AIDS and cancers. I then pursued my interest in the biotech industry at Immusol, now known as Itherx, where I investigated ribonucleic acid (RNA)-based therapeutics for treating viral infections. After meeting my wife, Celine Buckley, at Immusol I followed her to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where she attended the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and I attended the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. During my last year of law school, I founded The Pittsburgh Journal of Technology Law & Policy and a non-profit foundation to support the publication.

I am passionate about helping my clients advance their biotechnology, life sciences and pharmaceutical innovations. Because I practiced in academics and industry, and because I started several private ventures, I have particular insight into the process of life science innovation beginning at the bench top. The combination of legal and scientific experience has enabled me to assist innovators achieve their scientific and business goals by shepherding cutting-edge technologies from the bench top to market. A few technologies I have assisted my clients with include biopharmaceuticals, small molecule pharmaceuticals, and biologics (e.g., therapeutic polynucleotides and polypeptides including siRNA, shRNA, miRNA, ribozymes, antisense DNA, antibodies, related fragments, vaccines, and enzymes); RNA interference (RNAi); polynucleotide and polypeptide detection and screening; bioinformatics; structural proteomics; three-dimensional molecular modeling and drug design; stem cells and therapeutic cloning methods; transgenic plants and animals; microorganism/cell culture equipment and methods; biofuels and agriculture biotechnologies; and wet and dry nanotechnologies.

I also have deep respect for my friends who have pursued a public life. I enjoy assisting both friends and clients with public policy matters and have assisted with drafting legislation pending before the U.S. Congress and the Missouri legislature related to economic development, stem cell technologies, and elementary and secondary education. I have been active with the Missouri Biotechnology Association since 2000 and acted as its Legislative Counsel from 2001 to 2005.

I am also very fortunate to have been recognized for some of my work. In 2005, I was named one of the St. Louis Business Journal's "40 Under Forty," an annual award for becoming "a mover and shaker both in business and the St. Louis community." In 2006, I was selected to Who's Who in America and in 2007 to Who's Who in the World and Who's Who in American Law. Most recently, I was selected as a member of "Who's Who in Technology" by the St. Louis Business Journal in 2007.

Some of my "outside" interests include my involvement with the International Society for Stem Cell Research, the St. Louis Regional Chamber & Growth Association and Illinois BIO. Other outside interests include kayaking, rock climbing, and gardening/landscaping. Judging by the amount of dirt I scrape off my boots every weekend, I think it's safe to say that the latter outside interests dominate Celine's and my weekends...

A few presentations and publications that I'm proud of include:

• Presenter, ABCs of Commercialization, 6th Corn Utilization & Technology Conference, Kansas City, Missouri (June 3, 2008).
• Presenter, Opportunities in Emerging Geographies, 2nd Annual Global Healthcare Investing Conference, Cleveland, Ohio (April 30, 2008).
• Featured guest on television show speaking on biotechnology commercialization and pharmaceutical commercialization, Conversation with Lee Presser (television broadcast September 10 & 17, 2007).
• Presenter, Bringing Overseas Start-Ups Into U.S., Inaugural Global Healthcare Investing Conference, Cleveland, Ohio (June 21, 2007).
• Presenter, Leveraging the Revenue Potential of Patents Through Commercialization, Mumbai, India (November 27, 2006).
• Presenter, Streamlining AgBio Regulation - Shifting Public Policy and Statutory Design for Multi-Trait and Predictably Expressed Gene Packages, Second Generation Ag Biotech Conference, Washington, D.C (March 16, 2005).
• Co-author, Standing at the Molecular Crossroads: Report on Nanotechnology in Missouri, White Paper requested by the Missouri Department of Economic Development (September, 2003).
• Presenter, Copyright: Frequently Asked Questions by Illustrators, St. Louis Artists Guild - Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts (September 10, 2002).
• Co-author, Attack of the Clones. and the Issues of Clones, 3 COLUM. SCI. & TECH. L. REV. 3 (May, 2002), available at http://www.stlr.org/cite.cgi?volume=3&article=3.
• Co-presenter, Full, Clear, Concise and Exact. What You Should Know About the Patent Written Description Requirement: A Practitioner's Roundtable, Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis (February 26, 2002).
• Co-author, Survey of Missouri Employment Privacy Law, 2001 LDRC 50-STATE SURVEY OF EMPLOYMENT LIBEL AND PRIVACY LAW, 589-98 (2001).
• Author, Foreword, 1 PGH. J. TECH. L. & POL'Y. 1 (Spring, 2000), available at http://tlp.law.pitt.edu/about_preface.html.

I am a registered patent attorney with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and admitted to practice law in Missouri.

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