Pictured above: (l-r) New head of Berryman's Life Sciences
team Ed Wright, with team members Nicola Roe, Alan Millband, Duncan
James, Melanie Briggs, Katy Marlow, and Michael Gromett
The Life Sciences team at Nottingham law firm Berryman, regarded
as the East Midlands' leading legal advisory team that works with
life sciences and healthcare businesses, has a new head - Ed
Wright, a Partner at the firm since 2007.
Ed Wright, who originally joined Berryman in 2004, will head the
firm's enlarged dedicated Life Sciences team that includes seven
fee earners based in Nottingham and two Partners operating from the
Birmingham office of Shakespeare Putsman, which merged with
Berryman in November 2010 - Nicholas Briggs and Mauro Paiano both
specialise in Intellectual Property matters.
He is an authority in non-contentious IP work and takes on the
'expanded' role and enlarged team, based on his solid grounding,
experience and knowledge of "all matters IP-related". The latest
Legal 500 Directory rates him highly, describing him as 'a
specialist'.
"Berryman remains the front-runner for dedicated legal expertise
for the life science and healthcare sector in Nottingham and the
wider Midlands region," comments Ed. "The firm is a long-time
supporter of Nottingham's growing life sciences sector, having been
a corporate partner of both Medilink - the sectors' specialist
support organisation - and Nottingham's BioCity for several
years.
"Our substantial team - now one of the largest specialist IP
practices in the Midlands - has carved a niche as the leading
adviser to life science and healthcare enterprises in Nottingham.
It represents a significant and sizeable amount of Berryman's
annual turnover and this is set to rise, notably following the
merger with Shakespeare Putsman, which for the team brings with it
two of the IP legal professions' pre-eminent and leading legal
minds in Nicholas Briggs and Mauro Paiano."
He adds: "The integrated team has been scientifically put
together to deliver specialist legal advice in all areas in which
life science businesses will need support - it includes Duncan
James, a corporate and corporate finance specialist, employment
lawyer Nicola Roe, Business Defence Partner Alan Millband, IP
solicitor Michael Gromett, Associate and property lawyer Katy
Marlow, and assistant Melanie Briggs.
"The team combines its legal skills with a vast experience in
all aspects of commercial and contract law, IP, ICT, data
protection, competition law, copyright and trademark matters, with
a substantial pedigree advising clients in the biotechnology,
engineering, healthcare, life sciences, manufacturing and
pharmaceutical sectors. Clients include university spin-outs,
biotech's, bioinformatics, medical device companies and
investors."
According to Ed, the healthcare and life science sectors are
playing an increasingly important role in the region's economy:
"Across the East Midlands alone, there are around 250 medical
technology companies, employing approximately 19,000 people. The
pharma and biotechnology sectors consist of around 150
biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies employing in the region
of 12,000. There are a further 6,000 healthcare and bioscience
researchers in academia.
"In so many ways, these emerging and innovative sectors are what
marks the region apart from others; life sciences contributes some
6.9 percent regional gross value added to the economy. Berryman has
carved a justifiably strong reputation as the leading adviser to
these businesses and sectors, and this is a position we intend to
retain and build upon."
Berryman's Life Science team recently advised the UK's largest
integrated, worldwide provider of products and services for
individuals undergoing dialysis because of chronic kidney failure,
the UK's foremost private stem cell bank and provider of stem cell
collection, processing, testing, cryopreservation and storage
services, a leading UK biotechnology company and a leading UK
clinical surface sanitiser technology company on numerous IP
licences, and two leading UK healthcare technology and medical
device companies on IP sharing and cross-licensing arrangements for
the purposes of collaborative commercial R&D ventures.
"We continue to work closely with many university spin-outs,"
adds Ed, "including most recently a provider of pre-clinical
oncology services to ensure the provision for and protection of
connected IP assignment, licensing and pipeline arrangements,
whilst it works with major international pharmaceutical company
customers."
For more information about Berryman Solicitors, please visit
their website: www.berryman.co.uk