Janice Rice leads the firm’s life and health sciences patent counsel team. She has more than 16 years of experience, assisting clients with their intellectual property needs in chemistry, pharmaceuticals, life sciences, and cannabis industries. For more than 12 years of that time, she served as in-house patent counsel at small to mid-sized pharmaceutical companies.

She has developed and managed portfolios covering small molecules, small molecule-antibody conjugates, polymorphs, formulations, process chemistry, peptides and oligosaccharides. Her practice includes developing US and international patent strategies, patent drafting and prosecution, evaluation and protection of trade secrets, patentability and freedom to operate analyses, patent due diligence and advising on intellectual property licensing issues. Janice has contributed to patent protection for IMBRUVICA®, COTELLIC® and TALZENNA®, among other approved products.

Janice works as a strategic partner with companies with compounds at all stages of development, ranging from preclinical to approved drugs. She has a deep understanding of the pharmaceutical industry and the intersection of business objectives and patent strategy. In her work she has advised clients on IP-related regulatory issues, product life cycle management and the handling of inventions made overseas. Her in-house work included representing companies in collaborations with institutes, universities and large pharmaceutical companies.

Prior to her legal career, Janice worked for nine years as a synthetic organic chemist. She is the author of numerous scientific publications and has presented some of her research.