Lorna Tanner

Practice Areas

Lorna Tanner is a partner in the Intellectual Property Practice Group in Sheppard Mullin’s Silicon Valley and San Francisco offices and is the leader of the firm’s Life Sciences team.

Lorna’s practice focuses on global intellectual property (IP) protection strategy and technology transfer issues, including patent procurement and enforcement, IP valuation and monetization, licensing, and technology transfer. She has worked on patent portfolios relating to 15 approved drugs and biologics. Her practice is highly focused on drug candidates and approved therapeutics and counseling clients on IP issues relating product launch, including patent term extensions, Orange Book listings, and pre- and post-grant challenges. She also has an extensive diligence practice relating to initial and follow on public offerings, in-licensing, out-licensing, mergers, and collaborations and opinion practice relating to financings, inventorship, and freedom to operate.

While Lorna’s emphasis is in small molecules in clinical development, she also has in depth experience with antibodies, modified proteins and viruses; immunotherapy such as CAR T; biopolymers; drug delivery, including pulmonary, topical, and pharmaceutical formulations. Lorna also has experience with green technologies and agricultural products.

Clients have commented that Lorna is “an exceptionally good life sciences practitioner.”