Maya Skubatch

Maya Skubatch

Partner

Patents and Innovations

Strategic Patent Counselor

Maya provides a holistic IP strategy to healthcare and other technology-driven companies.
Comprehensive Deal Expertise

Maya assists clients with IP matters pertaining to financings, M&A, and partnership deals.

Maya Skubatch is a partner in the Palo Alto office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and a former member of the firm’s board of directors. Maya focuses on strategic patent counseling for both private and public life science companies. Maya works closely with licensing, litigation, corporate, and regulatory counsel to provide integrated IP strategies and often assists clients with intellectual property matters pertaining to financings, M&A, and partnership deals. Maya also works with investors on IP diligence matters.

Experience

Education

J.D., Santa Clara University School of LawIntern, Affymetrix, Inc.; Extern in the chambers of the Honorable Judge Susan Illston, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California
B.A., Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, BerkeleyConducted research in the laboratories of Howard Hughes Professor Randy Scheckman and Professor Sung-Ho Kim

Admissions

State Bar of California
Supreme Court of California
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Credentials

Education

J.D., Santa Clara University School of LawIntern, Affymetrix, Inc.; Extern in the chambers of the Honorable Judge Susan Illston, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California
B.A., Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, BerkeleyConducted research in the laboratories of Howard Hughes Professor Randy Scheckman and Professor Sung-Ho Kim

Admissions

State Bar of California
Supreme Court of California
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Select Representations

Day One Biopharmaceuticals in intellectual property matters related to its 2021 IPO and approval of OJEMDA™ (tovorafenib) in 2024
Hexagon Bio in intellectual property matters through its $77 million Series B financing
Thorne Research in inter partes reviews (IPRs) of US 8,383,086 US 8,197,807 related to nicotinamide riboside
Progenity in inter partes review against Natera of six patents related to prenatal genetic testing
Drawbridge in its spin out from GE and in developing its patents covering OneDraw™, a blood draw device that received FDA approval
Labrys in developing patents covering fremanezumab (Ajovy™), a monoclonal antibody for the treatment of migraines, and its sale to Teva.
Kythera in developing patents covering deoxycholic acid (Kybella™), currently an Allergan product
Carmenta through its acquisition by Progenity for diagnosing pre-eclampsia
Adverum in intellectual property matters related to its IPO and various follow-on offerings
Verinata in intellectual property matters leading to its $425 million acquisition by Illumina
Ion Torrent in intellectual property matters leading to its $725 million acquisition by Life Technologies
Capp Medical in intellectual property matters relating to Avenio™ ctDNA testing and leading to its acquisition by Roche

Matters

Select Representations

Day One Biopharmaceuticals in intellectual property matters related to its 2021 IPO and approval of OJEMDA™ (tovorafenib) in 2024
Hexagon Bio in intellectual property matters through its $77 million Series B financing
Thorne Research in inter partes reviews (IPRs) of US 8,383,086 US 8,197,807 related to nicotinamide riboside
Progenity in inter partes review against Natera of six patents related to prenatal genetic testing
Drawbridge in its spin out from GE and in developing its patents covering OneDraw™, a blood draw device that received FDA approval
Labrys in developing patents covering fremanezumab (Ajovy™), a monoclonal antibody for the treatment of migraines, and its sale to Teva.
Kythera in developing patents covering deoxycholic acid (Kybella™), currently an Allergan product
Carmenta through its acquisition by Progenity for diagnosing pre-eclampsia
Adverum in intellectual property matters related to its IPO and various follow-on offerings
Verinata in intellectual property matters leading to its $425 million acquisition by Illumina
Ion Torrent in intellectual property matters leading to its $725 million acquisition by Life Technologies
Capp Medical in intellectual property matters relating to Avenio™ ctDNA testing and leading to its acquisition by Roche

Select Publications

Co-author with D. Hoffmeister, C. Andres, D. Van Goor, and I. Dasgupta, "Dietary Supplements And FDA: Potential For Partnership?" Law360, March 7, 2018
Co-author with D. Hoffmeister, V. Norviel, and C. Andres, "Complying with Expanded Access Policy Drug Laws," Law360, February 28, 2017
Co-author, Brief for amici curiae Amarantus Bioscience Holdings, Inc., Exo Incubator, Inc., and Michael Heltzen in support of petitioner, Sequenom, Inc. v. Ariosa Diagnostics, Inc., et al., On Petition for a Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, No. 15-1182
Co-author, Brief for amici curiae Population Diagnostics, Inc., Avant Diagnostics, Inc., Personalis, Inc., Linda Bruzzone, and Erin Marie Mading in support of petitioner, Sequenom, Inc. v. Ariosa Diagnostics, Inc., et al., On Petition for a Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, No. 15-1182
Co-author, Brief of Amici Curiae Amarantus Bioscience Holdings, Inc., Personalis, Inc., and Population Diagnostics, Inc. in Support of Appellants' Petition for Rehearing En Banc, Ariosa Diagnostics, Inc. v. Sequenom, Inc., On Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, No. 2014-1139, -1144
Co-author, "A Novel Receptor for APO2L/Trail Contains a Truncated Death Domain," Current Biology, December 1, 1997
Co-author, "TRAIL-Induced Apoptosis by a Family of Signaling and Decoy Receptors," Science 277, August 8, 1997
Co-author, "Herpevirus Entry Mediator: A Member of the Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor (TNFR) Family Interacts with Members of the Factors NF-kB and AP," Journal of Biological Chemistry, Vol. 296, May 30, 1997

Insights

Select Publications

Co-author with D. Hoffmeister, C. Andres, D. Van Goor, and I. Dasgupta, "Dietary Supplements And FDA: Potential For Partnership?" Law360, March 7, 2018
Co-author with D. Hoffmeister, V. Norviel, and C. Andres, "Complying with Expanded Access Policy Drug Laws," Law360, February 28, 2017
Co-author, Brief for amici curiae Amarantus Bioscience Holdings, Inc., Exo Incubator, Inc., and Michael Heltzen in support of petitioner, Sequenom, Inc. v. Ariosa Diagnostics, Inc., et al., On Petition for a Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, No. 15-1182
Co-author, Brief for amici curiae Population Diagnostics, Inc., Avant Diagnostics, Inc., Personalis, Inc., Linda Bruzzone, and Erin Marie Mading in support of petitioner, Sequenom, Inc. v. Ariosa Diagnostics, Inc., et al., On Petition for a Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, No. 15-1182
Co-author, Brief of Amici Curiae Amarantus Bioscience Holdings, Inc., Personalis, Inc., and Population Diagnostics, Inc. in Support of Appellants' Petition for Rehearing En Banc, Ariosa Diagnostics, Inc. v. Sequenom, Inc., On Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, No. 2014-1139, -1144
Co-author, "A Novel Receptor for APO2L/Trail Contains a Truncated Death Domain," Current Biology, December 1, 1997
Co-author, "TRAIL-Induced Apoptosis by a Family of Signaling and Decoy Receptors," Science 277, August 8, 1997
Co-author, "Herpevirus Entry Mediator: A Member of the Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor (TNFR) Family Interacts with Members of the Factors NF-kB and AP," Journal of Biological Chemistry, Vol. 296, May 30, 1997

Recent Insights

Case Studies

Foresight Diagnostics is a dynamic and innovative cancer diagnostics company. Founded in 2020 and spun out of Stanford University, Foresight has developed a novel liquid biopsy testing platform for the measurement of minimal residual disease that is significantly more sensitive than existing tests. Its technology, called PhasED-Seq^TM, is based on a simple blood draw and next-generation sequencing. It is broadly applicable to a variety of cancers, and its ability to detect circulating tumor DNA at levels of 0.0001 percent (or one part-per-million) has the potential to provide actionable information to physicians and biopharmaceutical companies, thus enabling the development of a more proactive and personalized treatment approach.

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Client Highlights

On July 23, 2024, Novo Holdings, a leading life science investor, announced that it has led a $105 million financing in Magenta Medical, developer of the Elevate™ System, the world's smallest heart pump.

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Recent Events

Speaking Engagements

On Thursday, September 12th, at 4:00pm at the UW CoMotion - Fluke Hall, patents and innovations partner Maya Skubatch will be participating in Nucleate Seattle’s most recent installment in the Genesis Lecture Series, an engaging panel on Intellectual Property Protection for biotech companies. This panel will cover the necessary regulations to adequately protect your intellectual property before moving into the market.

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WSGR Events

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati’s 31st Annual Medical Device & Digital Health Conference will address topics of critical importance to medical device and digital health companies today, including key healthcare regulatory considerations, the relationship between intellectual property and valuation, a look back at 2023’s fundraising and deals, and how 2024 is shaping up along with partnering strategies in the current market.

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