Carson Zheng, Sc.D., is a senior associate in the Los Angeles office of Gibson Dunn. He is a member of the Technology Transactions and Life Sciences Practice Groups.
Drawing on prior experience from academia and the biotechnology industry, Dr. Zheng represents biopharmaceutical companies and research institutions on corporate, financial, and commercial matters, with a particular emphasis on complex transactions involving intellectual property. Dr. Zheng counsels clients on corporate partnering issues, strategic alliances, technology licenses, and key commercial contracts.
Before joining the firm, Dr. Zheng was an attorney at another international law firm, where his practice focused on life sciences technology transactions. He also served as Assistant General Counsel at National Resilience, Inc., an innovative biomanufacturing company. Dr. Zheng received his law degree, cum laude, from Harvard Law School. After law school, he served as a judicial law clerk to Judge Jimmie Reyna at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Prior to law school, Dr. Zheng spent more than a decade in biomedical research and drug discovery. He received his doctoral degree in biomedical research from Harvard University. He was a junior faculty member at Harvard Medical School and held a concurrent appointment as Principal Scientist in the Cardiology Division of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Dr. Zheng was a co-founder of the Center for Interdisciplinary Cardiovascular Sciences, a joint venture between Harvard and a major Japanese pharmaceutical company.
Select Representative Matters - Strategic Collaborations and Licensing*
- COMPASS Pathways in its strategic collaboration with King’s College London and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust to advance research into psychedelic treatments and new models of mental health care.
- BeiGene in drafting and negotiating supply and manufacturing agreements in connection with its out-license of the anti-PD-1 antibody tislelizumab to Novartis.
- Tessera Therapeutics in its collaboration with Serotiny to engineer and optimize programmable genome-editing proteins.
- Envisagenics in its collaboration with Biogen to advance RNA-splicing research in central nervous system diseases.
- Allogene Therapeutics in its global collaboration with Antion Biosciences focused on miRNA-based technology for next-generation allogeneic CAR-T therapies.
- Codiak BioSciences in its strategic transaction with Lonza involving the sale of its exosome manufacturing facility and related assets, an exclusive manufacturing arrangement, and licensing of exosome manufacturing technology.
- Other biopharma companies in connection with licenses of foundational intellectual property and technologies from universities and other academic and research institutions.
- Quantum Leap Health Care Collaborative, ACELYRIN and Arch Oncology on a high volume of clinical, research, and commercial agreements, including MSAs, clinical trial agreements, MTAs, consulting agreements, and related commercial contracts.
- National Resilience, while serving as in-house counsel, on technology licensing, strategic collaborations, and development and manufacturing arrangements, including matters involving Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine and Eli Lilly’s GLP-1 medicines.
Select Representative Matters - M&A and Financings*
- Immedica Pharma in its acquisition of Neurocrine Group.
- Esperion Therapeutics in its acquisition of Corstasis Therapeutics.
- Mentari Therapeutics in its merger with InMed Pharmaceuticals and concurrent private financing.
- Korsana Biosciences in its merger with Cyclerion Therapeutics and concurrent private financing.
- AbCellera in its acquisition of TetraGenetics.
- The underwriters in Vera Therapeutics’ initial public offering.
*Includes representations prior to joining Gibson Dunn.
Dr. Zheng is a member of the State Bar of California and the District of Columbia Bar and is admitted to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Capabilities
Credentials
Education:
- Harvard University - 2017 Juris Doctor
- Harvard University - 2004 Ph.D.
- Peking University - 1997 Bachelor of Science
Admissions:
- California Bar
- District of Columbia Bar
Clerkships:
- US Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit, Hon. Jimmie V. Reyna, 2017 - 2018