John Vassiliades is a Life Sciences Principle Advisor at Larta Institute; in this capacity, John provides one-on-one business mentoring to the innovative companies that participate in the Larta-managed National Institutes of Health Commercialization Assistance Program (NIH-CAP). John has been part of the Larta team since 2004.

John M. Vassiliades is Of Counsel in the Bethesda, Maryland office of Ballard Spahr where he is a member of the firm’s Patent, Life Sciences, Intellectual Property, Technology Transactions, and Corporate/M&A/Public Companies practice groups. Mr. Vassiliades represents domestic and international Fortune 500 corporations, emerging companies and start-ups involving a wide range of technologies, but mostly in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical device, healthcare and computer software related industries. As a patent, technology transactions and general corporate attorney, Mr. Vassiliades counsels clients on how best to develop, manage, commercialize, evaluate potential encumbrances, protect and enforce worldwide patent portfolios and handle patent proceedings, including how to structure and value R&D commercialization deals; how to license, make, distribute, promote and market high-tech products; and how to purchase, acquire, or sell a company’s proprietary technology or high tech business.

Bridging the gap between patent and corporate law, Mr. Vassiliades has patent law, freedom to operate, patent infringement/validity, patent licensing and litigation experience, general transactional experience in structuring and negotiating high-tech collaborations and related corporate/commercial transactions, domestic/international M&A experience, strategic alliances and other partnering structures involving the creation, protection and commercialization of jointly developed technology. As part of his general business law experience, Mr. Vassiliades has counseled clients as their general counsel on a variety of intellectual property matters, commercial deals, corporate compliance, disclosure, governance and regulatory compliance issues, including biomedical product regulations, executive compensation, private equity offerings, employment, advertising, privacy and IP antitrust issues. Mr. Vassiliades also has a technical scientific background within the Life Sciences industry, having received a Master of Science degree in the field of biotechnology with expertise in molecular/cell biology, immunology, virology, neurobiology, genetics, biochemistry and organic chemistry, including the product development and regulation of drugs, biologics and medical devices.