MelissaHe Ph.D.

Dr. Melissa He prosecutes patents and manages patent portfolios worldwide in the areas of pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and chemistry. Her practice encompasses global patent portfolio development and management, due diligence investigation, patentability and validity assessments, freedom-to-operate analysis, and patent strategy counseling.

Melissa is experienced in the areas of immunotherapies (e.g., monospecific and multispecific antibodies), gene therapies (e.g., mRNA-based, viral or nonviral vector-based therapeutics), cell therapies (e.g., CAR-T and CAR-NK therapeutics), lipid nanoparticles, biomarkers and diagnostics, and small-molecule pharmaceuticals. Exemplary small molecule pharmaceuticals that Melissa has been involved with include REVLIMID^®, iberdomide, and mezigdomide.

Her representative clients include AbbVie, Merck, and BMS/Celgene, as well as other start-up companies, established companies, academic institutions, and investment firms.

Melissa also has experience in patent litigation and post-grant proceedings, including inter partes review (IPR) before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB).

Prior to joining Jones Day, Melissa worked in a patent litigation team at an international law firm for more than three years and worked as a scientist for more than 10 years. Melissa is a co-inventor of patent applications and the first author of scientific publications in journals including Science Translational Medicine and Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. Her publications have been featured in "Research Highlights" in Nature Reviews Drug Discovery and selected for American Chemical Society Editors' Choice.