Michael E. Furrow '07

Mike Furrow is a former medicinal chemist who counsels pharmaceutical and biotech innovators on all aspects of patent and related regulatory strategy from the early development stages through product launch and eventual high-stakes patent disputes. He has counseled on products covering dozens of therapeutic areas and has handled actions in federal courts and before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Mike's background as a chemist affords him an intimate understanding of the challenges innate to the discovery of new medicines, and clients value his resulting drive to help them explore creative ways to maximize market exclusivities. Combining his science background with his legal prowess, Mike is known for exhaustively exploring the facts and pushing the envelope on merits strategy. He engages with the technology at a level that permits him to develop strong relationships with inventors, scientific officers, and technical experts, and typically takes the lead on critical issues of patent infringement and validity throughout a matter, including trial. Mike has protected and defended innovation in all aspects of drug discovery, including new chemical entities, salt forms, prodrugs, solid-state forms, dosage forms, combination products, therapeutic methods, methods of manufacture, REMS programs, DNA polymerization, genetically modified organisms, and laboratory techniques and tools. Mike has published several peer-reviewed scientific articles concerning novel stereoselective synthetic methods and was awarded an undergraduate research grant from the American Chemical Society. In graduate school, Mike's work on novel bond-forming and redox methods for synthesis of complex molecules resulted in several first-author publications in preeminent chemistry journals and was funded by a National Science Foundation Fellowship. Mike also worked for a period as a bench chemist conducting drug discovery on small molecule kinase inhibitor peptidomimetics at a leading biotechnology company that discovers and develops small molecule drugs for viral infections and liver diseases. Mike is listed in the 2021 edition of IAM Strategy 300: The World's Leading IP Strategists. He is also a regular author for LexisNexis Practical Guidance® and has been recognized repeatedly in the New York Metro edition of Super Lawyers magazine.