Erini R. Svokos

Erini Svokos is a partner in the firm’s Technology and Life Sciences group.

Erini advises biotechnology and life sciences companies in connection with various strategic transactions, including license agreements, complex collaborations, product funding and co-development agreements, royalty monetization transactions, asset acquisitions and divestitures, as well as other complex M&A transactions and reorganizations.

Erini has significant experience with a diverse array of life science-focused clients, representing early-stage biotech companies, global life sciences companies and life science-focused private equity and investment funds. She has advised clients across a wide variety of modalities, including small molecule and biologic therapeutics, diagnostic products and complex, multi-component products, such as degraders and gene editing therapeutics. Erini has built a reputation for finding practical solutions and effectively navigating complex legal and business negotiations.

Erini's transactional experience includes the following licenses and collaboration transactions and mergers and acquisitions:

Licenses and Collaborations

• Arrakis in its research collaboration agreement with Amgen on the discovery and development of RNA degrader therapeutics, with an upfront of $75 million and up to several billion dollars in potential milestones and royalties 
• Arrakis Therapeutics in its strategic collaboration and license agreement with Roche for the discovery of RNA-targeted small molecules (rSM) drugs against a broad set of targets across all of Roche’s research and development areas for an upfront payment of $190 million in cash and potential value to Arrakis in excess of several billion dollars
• Ascidian Therapeutics in collaboration with Roche for discovery and development of RNA Exon Editing Therapeutics, with Ascidian receiving a $42 million initial payment and up to $1.8 billion in research, clinical and commercial milestone payments, as well as commercial royalties
• Blueprint Medicines in its worldwide collaboration with Roche, valued up to $1 billion with a $45 million upfront payment
• BlueRock Therapeutics, a next-generation regenerative medicine company, in its $225 million financing by Bayer and Versant Ventures and seminal in-licenses and alliances with Memorial Sloan Kettering, the Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine and University Health Networks
• Cerevel Therapeutics in its strategic non-dilutive financing transaction with NovaQuest and Bain Capital to fund the full Phase 3 development program for tavapadon in Parkinson’s disease
• Dren Bio in its sale to Sanofi of its targeted bispecific myeloid cell engager, DR-0201, for an upfront of $600m and potential deal value up to $1.9 billion
• Ginkgo Bioworks in its collaboration with Synlogic to accelerate its pipeline of Synthetic Biotic medicines using Ginkgo’s cell programming platform providing an $80 million equity investment in Synlogic and a $30 million payment to Ginkgo for research and development
• ImmuNext in its exclusive, worldwide licensing agreement with Sanofi to develop and commercialize a CD40L monoclonal antibody to treat autoimmune diseases, with potential deal value of up to $500 million, plus royalties
• insitro in its strategic collaboration with Gilead to discover and develop therapies for patients with NASH, with up to $50 million in near-term payments, plus royalties and milestones
• insitro on its strategic agreements with Eli Lilly and Company
• Kymera Therapeutics in its strategic collaboration with Vertex to advance small molecule protein degraders against multiple biological targets, with an upfront payment of $70 million to Kymera, including an equity investment, and potential future payments to Kymera in excess of $1 billion
• Life Edit Therapeutics in its multi-target collaboration with Novo Nordisk to discover and develop gene editing therapies for rare and cardiometabolic diseases, with Life Edit receiving an upfront cash payment and milestone payments of $250-335 million for each of seven development programs, as well as tiered royalties on global net sales
• Minovia Therapeutics in its worldwide strategic collaboration and license agreement with Astellas Pharma to research, develop, and commercialize novel cell therapy programs for diseases caused by mitochondrial dysfunction
• Moderna Therapeutics in its strategic collaboration with Merck to advance novel mRNA-based personalized cancer vaccines, with an upfront payment of $200 million, and the expansion of the strategic alliance to include additional shared antigen mRNA cancer vaccines, with an equity investment of $125 million
• Nimbus Therapeutics in the negotiation of a strategic alliance with Celgene Corporation in immunology
• Obsidian Therapeutics in its strategic collaboration with Celgene to develop novel, regulated cell therapies using Obsidian’s destabilizing domain technology
• Prime Medicine in its strategic relationship with Beam Therapeutics
• Prime Medicine in its foundational in-licenses with the Broad Institute
• Prime Medicine in its option and research collaboration with Myeloid Therapeutics to develop and accelerate next-generation RNA-based Gene-Editing Technology, RetroT™, with $45 million upfront payment from Prime
• Royalty Pharma in its purchase of the worldwide royalties on future worldwide sales of tazemetostat from Epizyme, Inc. and Eisai Co. Ltd.
• Schrödinger, in its global discovery, development and commercialization collaboration with Zai Lab Limited focused on a novel program in oncology targeting DNA damage response
• Schrödinger, in its strategic collaboration with Eli Lilly, with an upfront payment and up to $425 million in potential milestones, in addition to royalties
• Schrödinger, in its drug discovery collaboration with Otsuka Pharmaceuticals
• Schrödinger, in its collaboration and license agreement with Bristol Myers Squibb to discover, develop and commercialize therapeutics in multiple disease areas, with potential deal value of $2.7 billion, plus royalties
• Skyhawk Therapeutics in its collaboration with Ipsen in rare neurological diseases, with Skyhawk receiving an upfront payment and up to $1.8 billion in development, regulatory and commercial milestones, plus potential for tiered royalties
• Surface Oncology in its collaboration with Novartis to develop next generation immunotherapies, with Surface eligible to receive up to $170 million in near term cash, plus milestones and royalties
• Teva Pharmaceuticals in its license agreement with Heptares to develop and commercialize novel, small-molecule calcitonin gene-related peptide antagonists discovered by Heptares, valued up to $410 million, plus royalties
• Teva Pharmaceuticals, in its worldwide collaboration with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals to develop and commercialize fasinumab, with an upfront payment of $250 million, as well as ongoing research and development costs of approximately $1 billion
• Universal Diagnostics in its strategic collaboration with Quest Diagnostics to bring advanced colorectal cancer screening blood test to patients

M&A

• BlueRock Therapeutics in its sale to Bayer, valued up to $1 billion, with an up-front payment of $240 million
• Blueprint Medicines on its acquisition of Lengo Therapeutics, valued up to $465 million, with an upfront of $250 million
• Cadent Therapeutics in its acquisition by Novartis, valued at up to $770 million, with an upfront of $210 million 
• Celsius Therapeutics on its acquisition by AbbVie
• Delinia Therapeutics in its sale to Celgene, valued up to $775 million with an up-front payment of $300 million
• EQRx in its definitive merger agreement with CM Life Sciences III, Inc. for $1.8 billion
• Fusion Pharmaceuticals on its acquisition by AstraZeneca with an upfront cash payment of $2 billion and specified regulatory milestone-based payment of $400 million
• Haystack Oncology in its sale to Quest Diagnostics for $300 million upfront and up to $150 million in potential milestones
• IDRx in its sale to GlaxoSmithKline for $1 billion upfront, with the potential for an additional $150 million in milestones
• Nimbus in its sale of Nimbus Lakshmi and its Tyk2 inhibitor program to Takeda for $4 billion upfront and up to $2 billion in commercial-related milestone payments
• Nimbus Therapeutics in connection with the $1.2 billion sale of its ACC inhibitor program to Gilead Biosciences
• Promedior in its sale to Roche, valued at up to $1.39 billion 
• Syntimmune in its sale to Alexion, valued up to $1.2 billion, with an up-front payment of $400 million
• Thrive Earlier Detection Corp. on its acquisition by Exact Sciences, valued at up to $2.15 billion, with an upfront of $1.7 billion

Erini is a member of the American Intellectual Property Law Association.

While attending law school, Erini served as the Symposium Editor for the Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics and as the President of the Student Intellectual Property Law Association.

Erini is the author of “What About the Client? Trade Secret Law and Fiduciary Duty Law as Applied to Law Firm Client Lists” appearing in the Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics (Summer 2011). Erini's publications and presentations include:

• Contributor, “Becoming a Life Sciences Lawyer — The View From Goodwin,” Chambers Associate, July 12, 2021
• Author, “I want to engage a consultant to provide services on behalf of the company, but that consultant is a professor at an academic institution. Can I still do so?,” Goodwin’s Life Sciences Perspectives Blog, February 6, 2020
• Author, “I want to license technology out of an academic or research institution. What kind of compensation will the institution typically look to receive?,” Goodwin’s Life Sciences Perspectives Blog, February 6, 2020
• Speaker, “Structuring Life Sciences Partnering and M&A Agreements,” New York Healthcare + CLE Day, October 24, 2019
• Speaker, ”Public M&A in the Boardroom,” Goodwin, September 3, 2019