Bryan G. Helwig engages in all aspects of U.S. and international patent prosecution and portfolio management while providing strategic direction to clients ranging from individual inventors to startups to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Dr. Helwig has more than 15 years of experience as a bench scientist and research lab director in the life and biomedical sciences with extensive background in the areas of central and peripheral autonomic function, physiology, biochemistry, and molecular biology.  Dr. Helwig complements his technical insights with almost a decade of experience in patent prosecution, counseling, and strategy. Clients seek his counsel on global patent portfolio strategy for novel and emerging drugs and biologics, including antibody-drug conjugates. Dr. Helwig also supports clients in litigation-related matters and provides freedom to operate, patent infringement, and patent validity analyses.

Prior to joining MBHB, Dr. Helwig directed an integrated research laboratory for the U.S. Department of Defense with the goal of developing pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical therapies and enhanced molecular and physiological device technologies to aid warfighter survival in extreme environments. Dr. Helwig has also served as a consultant to multiple Fortune 500 companies, advising them on the scientific validity of labeling claims and product development.

Dr. Helwig is a member of MBHB’s Ethics Committee and servers as co-Chair of the Prosecution Advisory Committee. Outside of work, he is a seasoned world traveler and explorer and volunteers his time to youth sports and the arts.

• Managed and prosecuted multiple international patent portfolios across more than 45 jurisdictions for a Fortune 500 pharmaceutical company.
• Oversaw the worldwide patent portfolio and IP strategy for an immune-oncology company that was the basis for acquisition of the company by a Fortune 500 pharmaceutical company.
• Led U.S. patent prosecution of SiRNA technology for a Fortune 500 pharmaceutical company.
• Prepared and prosecuted patent applications directed to pharmaceutical compounds and novel screening methods for multiple Fortune 500 companies.
• Worked with universities to grow and license patent portfolios related to stem cell technologies, fatty acid biosynthesis, nucleic acid detection, and cell culture models of human development.
• Represented solo inventors in preparation and prosecution of patent applications directed to pharmaceutical compounds and associated methods for treating disease.
• Helped global pharmaceutical client develop a mitigation of risk strategy regarding future IP litigation.
• Represented Fortune 500 company in gene therapy patent infringement.
• Assisted in successful denial of an inter partes review petition institution decision for a global ingredient supplier.
• Co-authored Amicus Curiae Brief on Petition for Writ of Certiorari (No. 19-430), before the Supreme Court of the United States, in the case of Athena v. Mayo; Oct 2019.

• Intellectual Property Law Association of Chicago – Biotechnology Co-Chair

Dr. Helwig has authored over twenty refereed journal publications and more than twenty-five conference publications related to cardiac and systems physiology, molecular biology, stem cell biology, and heart failure.  Dr. Helwig has also published multiple trade journal and lay articles, and provided numerous media interviews. 

A.V. Gin and B. Helwig, FDA Signals Fast-Track Approval for AI-Based Medical Devices, Bloomberg Law (May 9, 2018).

Gattari, S.M. Ferguson, D. Crichton, and B. Helwig, Beyond Hybrid Licenses-Strategies for Post Patent Expiration Payments in the United States, LES Nouvelles. Mar;52(1): 31-36 (2017).

Rodriguez-Fernandez, B. Grossman, T. Yuraszeck, B.G. Helwig, L.R. Leon and F.J. Doyle III, Modeling the Intra-and Extracellular Cytokine Signaling Pathway under Heat Stroke, PLoS Comput Biol., (September 2013).

B.G. Helwig BG, T. I. Musch, R.A. Craig, M.J. Kenney,  Increased interleukin-6 receptor expression in the paraventricular nucleus of rats with heart failure., Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol., Mar; 292(3):  R1165-73 (2007).

B.G. Helwig, S. Parimi, C.K. Ganta, R. Cober, R.J. Fels, and M.J. Kenney, Aging alters regulation of visceral sympathetic nerve responses to acute hypothermia. Am. J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol., 291(3):  R573-579 (2006).

K.E. Mitchell, M.L. Weiss, B.M. Mitchell, P.Martin, D. Davis, L. Morales, B. Helwig, M. Beerenstrauch, K. Abou-Easa, T. Hildreth, D. Troyer, and S. Medicetty, Stem Cells., 21(1):50-60 (2003).