Current legal issues and challenges in Canada’s healthcare sector
Eileen McMahon talks about the value of intellectual property, being inducted into the Canadian Healthcare Marketing Hall of Fame, and using her education to find her passion (990 words, 5 minutes)
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Eileen McMahon says she finds working with startups incredibly rewarding because she’s helping them protect their intellectual property from the start. The Chair of Intellectual Property and Food and Drug Regulatory Practices at Torys LLP adds that protecting intellectual property is essential for any organization, and it is important to keep costs in mind.
“One of the first questions I’ll ask is budget,” she said. “In an IP [intellectual property] world, we can blow a lot of money on IP, and that’s not good business sense for an SME [Small and medium-sized enterprises], generally speaking.”
McMahon adds that after discussing the budget, she likes to ask founders and SMEs about their business plans. “I want to understand what their business plan is so that the IP strategy dovetails with that business plan,” she says. “It could be that they have their sites in North America only and aren’t necessarily interested in other markets, and that may have an impact on where they file or whether they out-license their IP in other markets.”
McMahon [pictured below] says that, from her perspective, it is essential to maintain a close relationship between the IP strategy and the business strategy. She mentions two aspects of any intellectual property strategy that she urges SMEs to consider. “The first is inward-looking, so in other words, if we look at our R&D, if we look at what we are doing as a company, what do we need to protect to improve our assets?” she says. “The second aspect is the outward-looking strategy. In other words, if I look at other companies in my space, other labs, other researchers, what are they doing?”
McMahon is a lawyer and has an undergraduate degree in chemistry and biochemistry. She says her undergrad has affected the course of her career in a positive way. She said that while studying for her bachelor’s degree, she recognized she excelled at the theory but didn’t do that well in the lab. The realization? She did not enjoy the isolation of research practice. “I very much enjoy interacting with people, I get energized by it, and that helped me realize that I likely needed a path that was a little different.”
This new-found insight prompted her to try dentistry, but her talent wasn’t the best. After that, she made a complete left turn and entered law school. She loved the law and wanted to leverage her science and math background, so she pursued intellectual property. “I’m so grateful that I studied science and math,” she said. “Grateful that I was a woman among a handful of women in those types of courses. And I have enjoyed being able to leverage that education in an indirect way by what I do every day.”
In 2022, McMahon was inducted into the Canadian Healthcare Marketing Hall of Fame. She said she was touched to receive this award, and the induction was meaningful because it made her reflect on her story. McMahon is the daughter of Irish immigrants and went through some hardships, including losing her mother at an early age. “I worked hard and went through many challenges and along the way had immense joy,” she said. “These awards can be meaningful, and this was especially meaningful to me because it reflected on my journey. And many times, I don’t reflect. I just go, go, go. I was so grateful to receive it.”
THIS WEEK 03/28/23
Janssen announced that Health Canada issued a Notice of Compliance authorizing the expanded use of ibrutinib (Imbruvic) in combination with venetoclax for treating adult patients with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
Health Canada granted marketing authorization for Boehringer Ingelheim’s spesolimab (Spevigo) to treat generalized pustular psoriasis flares in adult patients.
Roche Canada announced Health Canada authorized glofitamab (Columvi) for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) not otherwise specified, DLBCL arising from follicular lymphoma or primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma, who have received two or more lines of systemic therapy and are ineligible to receive or cannot receive CAR-T cell therapy or have previously received CAR-T cell therapy.
The U.S. FDA approved Incyte’s retifanlimab-dlwr (Zynyz) for treating metastatic or recurrent locally advanced Merkel cell carcinoma in adult patients.
LISTEN NOW
In season nine of the NPC Podcast, Eileen McMahon, Chair of Intellectual Property and Food and Drug Regulatory Practices at Torys LLP, talks about strategic budgeting, the value of intellectual property rights, and reflecting on your personal and professional journey. Hear her in conversation with podcast hosts Mitch Shannon, Jim Shea and Mark McElwain.
HEALTHBIZ REWIND
This new feature of NPC Healthbiz Weekly looks back at some of the most insightful moments from previous NPC Podcast episodes. In Healthbiz Rewind, you’ll read about the bold life ’ bold life sci predictions during the popular Prognostication Korner segment of the NPC Podcast.
Karl Frank
Mississauga, Ont.
Bayshore HealthCare
Season 9, episode 03
Listen to this episode here
What bold predictions will you make about the life sciences industry during the coming 12 to 24 months?
I see the rise of cell and gene therapy and messenger RNA. Messenger RNA, in particular, has seen an incredible evolution over the pandemic. I think we’re going to start to see curative therapies for rare diseases, and maybe also for some of the hematological cancers, in the same way, that we are eradicating hepatitis C. Thinking about how we could play a part in supporting those patients and supporting the launch of those types of products is exciting. Innovative models have unique challenges, and that’s what makes them exciting.
I also think hospitals are at over capacity, and we’re not building hospitals at any rate to meet the aging population's needs. So, much more will be outsourced when it comes to community-based healthcare. We’ve seen that in infusions and pharmaceuticals over the last 20 or 25 years.
For Alzheimer’s, we’re hopeful we will have some therapy that’s effective in some way. There’s some excellent innovation just around the corner. And then, oncology is undergoing incredible innovation with personalized precision, next-generation sequencing, and targeted therapy. We’ve already seen the benefits of the last 20 years of innovation with improving five-year survival rates, which will continue.
Register now for the 2023 NPC Winter Webinar
The 2023 NPC Winter Webinar will explore the rapidly evolving field of artificial intelligence (AI) in the life sciences industry. The webinar will bring together a panel of industry leaders to discuss the emerging applications of AI in areas such as drug discovery, clinical trials, personalized medicine, and healthcare delivery.
The speakers will share their perspectives on the benefits and challenges of implementing AI technologies and how they transform how drugs are developed, tested, and delivered to patients.
The webinar will be held virtually starting at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, April 19, 2023, will be one hour long, and is free to attend.
NEXT WEEK
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