Hanover, MD (September 16, 2021) — Major, Lindsey & Africa (MLA), the world’s leading legal search firm, today announced the placement of Wendy Petka as vice president, intellectual property at Horizon Therapeutics in Deerfield, Illinois. The search was conducted by Michael Sachs, partner in Chicago, and Carol Warren Simon, managing director in San Francisco, both with MLA’s In-House Counsel Recruiting group.
Reporting to Horizon’s EVP and general counsel, Brian Beeler, Wendy will manage and oversee the full scope of global pharmaceutical patent issues including client counseling; portfolio strategy; patent preparation and prosecution; rendering legal opinions with respect to patentability, validity, and freedom to operate; due diligence reviews; and intellectual property-related transactional work. She will also oversee a small team of IP attorneys.
Horizon is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of medicines that address critical needs for people impacted by rare, autoimmune and severe inflammatory diseases.
“It was a pleasure to partner with Horizon Therapeutics on this significant search,” said Carol Simon. “Wendy’s broad and deep life sciences IP experience, as well as her positive energy, make her an ideal candidate for Horizon as it continues to grow in both the small and large molecule space.”
Wendy most recently served as vice president, intellectual property at Sangamo Therapeutics, Inc., a genomic medicine company, advising C-level executives and the board of directors on complex IP strategies and risk mitigation. Prior to Sangamo, she was VP, chief IP counsel at Cepheid and senior director and senior patent counsel at Theravance Biopharma US, Inc. She also spent nearly a decade with Boehringer Ingelheim. Wendy earned her J.D. from Fordham University School of Law, her Ph.D. and M.S. in Polymer Science and Engineering from University of Massachusetts and her B.S. from Chatham College.
For media inquiries please contact us at:
media_inquiries@mlaglobal.com
or +1.617.603.1311