Dr. Christopher Hazuka advises life sciences companies on the agreements and transactions that are essential to their success at all stages of their life cycle, drawing on his experience as a scientist and former in-house counsel.
Dr. Hazuka, based in both San Diego and Silicon Valley, brings clients a scientist’s sensibility, a passion for creating synergies to bring innovation to market, and a pragmatic understanding of the full complement of business and legal issues clients face. In particular, he helps established and emerging life sciences companies by providing problem-solving advice to structure, negotiate, and execute a myriad of transactions, such as:
- Complex collaborations
- Intellectual property and technology licenses
- Relationships to assist in developing drug candidates and innovative technologies
- Manufacturing and quality agreements
- Commercial agreements, including profit sharing and co-promotion agreements
- University licenses
- Clinical trial agreements
In the context of strategic transactions, he advises on:
- Due diligence and disclosure matters
- Venture financings, public offerings, and M&A transactions
Dr. Hazuka earned a PhD at Stanford University in the Neurosciences Program for his work in Dr. Richard Scheller’s laboratory on the molecular mechanisms of neurotransmission. He later served as in-house counsel for Orexigen Therapeutics, an emerging company that successfully developed and commercialized a drug to treat obesity. At the La Jolla, California-based company, Dr. Hazuka assisted with challenging issues across the company’s full range of legal matters.
He also clerked for Judge Jeremy Fogel of the United States District Court of Northern California, assisting on several high-stakes technology patent litigation matters.
Dr. Hazuka has advised a wide variety of life sciences companies and firms. A representative sampling includes:
Emerging Companies
- Castle Creek Pharmaceuticals
- ChemoCentryx
- Ideaya Biosciences
- Ignyta
- Neurelis
- Phathom Pharmaceuticals
- Regulus Therapeutics
- Verge Genomics
Established Companies
- Allergan
- Kyowa Hakko Kirin
- Ligand Pharmaceuticals
- Terumo
Representative transactions include:
- Castle Creek’s collaboration with Fibrocell to develop and commercialize a gene therapy
- License agreements with Recida and Lyzz Capital for development and commercialization in China
- Licenses in connection with formation of companies by California-based Frazier Healthcare, including Phathom Pharmaceuticals’ license agreement with Takeda
- Distribution agreements on behalf of Tokyo-based Terumo, including with US-based startup Orchestra Biomed
- Orexigen’s collaboration with Takeda
- Vivelix’s collaboration with Idera to commercialize and develop a GI disorder candidate
- Allergan’s collaborations with Molecular Partners and Serenity