About KalVista Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

KalVista Pharmaceuticals, Inc., is a global biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing and delivering life-changing oral therapies for individuals affected by rare diseases with significant unmet needs. Our lead investigational product is sebetralstat, a novel, oral, on-demand treatment for hereditary angioedema (HAE). Sebetralstat is under regulatory review by the U.S. FDA, with a PDUFA goal date of June 17, 2025. In addition, we have completed Marketing Authorization Applications for sebetralstat to the European Medicines Agency and multiple other global regulatory authorities.

About Sebetralstat

Sebetralstat is an investigational, novel oral plasma kallikrein inhibitor for the treatment of hereditary angioedema (HAE). We have filed multiple regulatory applications seeking approval of sebetralstat as the first oral, on-demand treatment for HAE in individuals aged 12 and older, with ongoing studies exploring its use in children aged 2 to 11. If approved, sebetralstat has the potential to become the foundational therapy for HAE management worldwide.

For more information about KalVista, please visit www.kalvista.com or follow on social media at @KalVista and LinkedIn.

About the role:

KalVista seeks a dynamic and experienced Senior Director/Executive Director, Intellectual Property Counsel to expand, enhance and lead our IP legal function. In this critical role, you will develop and execute global intellectual property strategy. With a keen ability to build and develop strong relationships across the organization, you will bring a prominent level of legal and technical expertise and strategic thinking to proactively create, broaden, enforce, defend and monetize the Company’s IP portfolio and pipeline and commercial strategy, while identifying and mitigating risks.  

Reporting to our General Counsel, the Senior Director/Executive Director will be a trusted member of multidisciplinary teams and engage with colleagues at all levels of the organization to understand all aspects of the business. In doing so, you will be able to implement effective IP strategies for our portfolios, proactively soliciting invention disclosures and educating key stakeholders on KalVista’s IP strategy, while actively leading negotiations and other transactional work.

Responsibilities:

• Direct and execute IP strategy and establish collaborative and positive working relationships with all functional areas, including R&D, CMC, business development, commercial and regulatory teams acting as an advisor on a variety of IP-related issues
• Drive our portfolio prosecution and strategy, while overseeing and conducting prior art searches, competitive landscape analysis, patentability, validity, non-infringement and freedom to operate analyses
• Serve as a strategic partner and IP thought leader for the Company in discovery, research, manufacturing, and development on patent, regulatory data exclusivity, trademark, trade secret, commercial launch strategies and other intellectual property issues
• Oversee worldwide preparation of prosecution of patent and trademark applications
• Build the Company’s patent portfolio through inventor and collaborator engagement and reviewing their submissions, while collaborating with senior colleagues to develop and execute the best practices of a business-focused patent program
• Conduct patent landscape studies and synthesize the results to facilitate actionable decisions with the coordination of outside counsel and search providers
• Formulate polices and guidelines for patent-related issues, the improvement of portfolio development processes and encourage patent-related practices consistent with KalVista’s goals
• Develop and manage patentability and freedom to operate assessments
• Facilitate patent searches and development of opinions on validity, non-infringement and patent avoidance of third-party patents and risk assessments
• Ensure trade secret protection
• Develop a complete understanding of the Company’s current and planned business strategies, activities, programs and markets, while diligently monitoring legal trends, laws, regulations and the competitive landscape to best mitigate risk
• Benchmark activities to ensure the implementation of best practices in providing IP metrics to business teams and corresponding advice
• Review proposed research papers, publications, presentations, press releases and other materials for potential impact on patent rights
• Collaborate closely with General Counsel and IP team to identify opportunities for asserting intellectual property against infringers and identifying risks
• Advise on litigation preparation and manage outside counsel support of any such litigation.

Qualifications:

• 12-14 years of relevant IP experience in the biotech/pharmaceutical industry, including law firm and in-house experience
• JD degree required with good standing of at least one state bar and registered U.S. Patent Attorney in good standing with U.S. Patent Bar
• Advanced degree in a relevant biological/biochemical science strongly preferred
• Proven track record of managing IP portfolios and developing IP strategies in a biotech/pharmaceutical company
• Direct experience in small molecule patent prosecution, patent portfolio development and management, and managing products from discovery through development, marketing approval and post-approval preferred
• Ability to counsel in-house colleagues on complex IP matters in an understandable and actionable manner
• Comfortable participating in all aspects of IP law, including preparation and prosecution of patent applications and all aspects of IP portfolio management
• Experience drafting and negotiating IP focused agreements strongly preferred
• Strong, practical problem solver with a business-focused mindset
• Highly professional with an unwavering commitment to acting with integrity, sound judgment and ethical conduct

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran.

Important Notice to Third-Party Recruiters & Staffing Agencies:

The current job openings advertised on this website are for the sole purpose of candidates to apply directly. Unsolicited and anonymous CVs submitted in any manner to KalVista employees, including to employee personal e-mail accounts, are considered to be the property of KalVista and will not qualify for a fee to be paid. Referral fees will only be payable where KalVista has agreed with an agency to work on a specific appointment, and then only in conjunction with a fully-executed contract for service.

If any Agency representative contacts a KalVista Hiring Manager or company employee, other than a member of the KalVista Talent Acquisition team, to solicit an appointment to engage on a job opening, that Agency will not be considered for that specific job opening or future opportunities with KalVista.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.