David J. Weitz, J.D.

Senior Vice President General Counsel and Chief Intellectual Property Counsel

Primary Responsibilities:

Mr. Weitz is responsible for establishing the corporate quality strategies and priorities for all legal, intellectual property and administrative functions at Takeda San Diego (TSD). He has been the company’s head legal counsel since 2002. Following the acquisition by Takeda, his responsibilities were expanded to include management of the finance, facilities, purchasing, shipping and information technologies departments. He also serves as the company’s chief compliance officer and secretary and is a member of the Takeda Intellectual Property Department global leadership committee.

Experience:

Mr. Weitz has over 18 years experience practicing law, including over 10 years in private practice where he focused on intellectual property. Mr. Weitz joined TSD (then Syrrx) in 2002 as General Counsel and Vice President of Intellectual Property and was responsible for building the company's legal and intellectual property departments. Prior to the acquisition by Takeda in 2005, he negotiated all of Syrrx's major business transactions including the Takeda acquisition. Following the acquisition, Mr. Weitz has been heavily involved with the integration of Syrrx with Takeda and numerous Takeda business development efforts including executed deals with PPD, Alnylam, XOMA, and Archemix. Prior to joining Syrrx/Takeda, Mr. Weitz was a Partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati (WSGR) where he co-lead the firm's patent department. At WSGR, his practice covered all aspects of intellectual property and focused on companies in the areas of pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, chemistry, material science, medical devices, lasers and optics.

Education:

• B.S. in Chemistry from Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• M.S. in Organic Chemistry from University of California, Berkeley – Berkeley, CA
• Juris Doctorate

Boards/Committees/Organizations:

• Member of the Board of Directors for MIT Club, San Diego
• Permanent member of the MIT Club, Northern California
• Member of American Corporate Patent Council
• Association of Intellectual Property Owners

Accomplishments/Awards:

Mr. Weitz is the first associate to be elected Partner within the patent department of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati, the premier law firm to technology and growth companies. It is there that he met the founders of Syrrx and wrote and prosecuted the nanovolume crystallization patents that served as the foundational intellectual property for the company. While living in Northern California, he co-founded BioE2E, the largest and most active network of biotech entrepreneurs in the San Francisco Bay Area. Mr. Weitz is an active public speaker and has spoken at the national BIO convention in 2008, 2009, and 2010.

In my own words:

• Aspirations for the Group I Lead:

  • I aspire for the departments I lead to seek more than the status quo. I try to cultivate a proactive attitude and encourage people to seek new ways to adapt, improve, and introduce new best practices. I also encourage people to work cross-functionally in order to better contribute to the organization as a whole.

• Why I Chose My Profession:

  • My career path has flowed from my interest to be at the intersection of science and business and my desire to develop cross-functional capabilities as reflected in the multidisciplinary managerial responsibilities that I hold today. Science has always been a passion of mine. This led me to study chemistry in undergraduate and graduate schools. As an undergraduate at MIT, I had the good fortune to have K. Barry Sharpless as an adviser and to do independent research in the laboratories of Professors Daniel Wang, Charles Cooney, and George Whitesides—all pioneers at finding business applications for chemistry and biotechnology. This seeded my desire to find ways to apply my science training in a business setting which ultimately led me to my current role at TSD.

• Favorite Quote:
  • The only difference between being stubborn and being a visionary is whether you are right. — Bob Metcalfe, inventor of the Ethernet, founder of 3Com

    This quote resonates with my desire to be innovative. There is nothing like championing and realizing change as long as you choose your battles wisely.

• The Other Side of Me:

  • I love to travel and explore the world and its diverse cultures.