Thomas Wrona

Experience

1. Vice President, Intellectual Property

   Arsenal Biosciences, Inc.

   May 2023 — Present · Austin, TX, US

   ArsenalBio is a clinical stage, programmable cell therapy company focused on solid tumors. Utilizing in-licensed and internally developed CRISPR- and synthetic biology-based platform technologies, ArsenalBio creates autologous CAR T-cell therapies designed to minimize on-target, off-tumor activity and to overcome the hurdles of the tumor micro environment and T-cell exhaustion. To do this, a patient’s immune cells are removed, engineered by inserting a logic-gate based expression system at a precise location in the genome, then administered back into the patient. The expression system contains an AND logic gate such that the presence of one tumor antigen drives the expression of a CAR directed to a second tumor antigen, along with other components such as payloads, synthetic signaling molecules, and shRNA cassettes.I am responsible for all intellectual property matters at ArsenalBio. These responsibilities include- building and maintaining a global patent portfolio directed to platform- and product-specific innovations- meeting regularly with R&D leadership to discuss invention disclosures along with patent filing and maintenance strategy- communicating intellectual property analysis and strategy to functional leadership, executives, and the Board of Directors - identifying potential freedom-to-operate risks, evaluating invalidity and noninfringement positions, and creating mitigation strategies- negotiating and providing counsel on contract intellectual property provisions

Education

• The University of Texas at Austin

  Ph.D., Microbiology

  1991 — 1997

• University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  B.S., Microbiology

  1986 — 1991

• University of Illinois Chicago School of Law

  J.D., Intellectual Property

  1998 — 2002

Skills

• Intellectual Property Valuation
• Patent Litigation
• Lifesciences
• Legal Opinions
• Licensing
• Privacy Law
• Trademarks
• Copyright Law
• Invention
• Life Sciences
• Intellectual Property
• Patent Portfolio Analysis
• Client Counseling
• Patentability
• Biotechnology
• Patents
• Freedom to Operate
• Registered Patent Attorney
• Trials
• Technology Transfer
• Patent Prosecution
• Prosecution
• Legal Writing
• Litigation
• Due Diligence
• Patent Applications
• Drafting Patent Applications