Legal Intelligencer Names Steven Maslowski a Pennsylvania Trailblazer

(Philadelphia) – The Legal Intelligencer has recognized Akin Gump intellectual property practice head Steven Maslowski as one of its 2020 Pennsylvania Trailblazers. According to the publication, Trailblazers are those who “made significant marks on the practice, policy and technological advancement of their practice.”

In the profile published as part of the announcement of these recognitions, Mr. Maslowski discusses how he had planned to become a doctor or research scientist, but, after completing his biology major, headed to law school. He notes, “You’ve got to understand both sides of the equation—the law and the science. And quite frankly, more importantly, you need to understand how they work together in a hugely important patent case.”

Among his most important cases is one involving a patent for a cancer-fighting immunotherapy treatment developed by a Japanese Nobel Prize-winning scientist. Representing the scientist, Bristol Myers Squibb and a Japanese pharmaceutical company, Mr. Maslowski negotiated a settlement that saw the clients receive $625 million plus royalties potentially totaling billions from a major pharmaceutical company that had produced its own version of the drug. He says, “To be able to work with a Nobel Prize-winning scientist and understand how he came to develop a technology that revolutionized medicine—I feel incredibly lucky working on cases like this.”

The profile notes antibodies as driving many of the most promising life sciences advances. In that regard, Mr. Maslowski says, “Our team has been right at the edge for a long, long time. I think our expertise in antibody advancements will continue to keep us there.”