Z. Jean Ge, PhD

Overview

Jean Ge focuses on providing strategic intellectual property counsel to a wide range of clients in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical spaces. Jean represents clients ranging from venture-backed start-up companies and multinational pharmaceutical companies to financial institutions, such as private equity and venture capital firms, to research institutions.

Jean is effective in understanding each client’s business model and their unique positioning in the broader field. She partners with client teams to devise and implement an intellectual property strategy that furthers short- and long-term business goals. Jean advises clients in all areas of patent practice, including strategic patent portfolio development and management, worldwide patent prosecution, patent term adjustment and extension, patent landscape, freedom-to-operate studies, opinions, third party patent risk management strategies, conducting or defending IP due diligences in connection with investment or acquisition, and addressing IP issues in transactional matters.

With nearly 10 years of research experience in the RNA field prior to joining Wolf Greenfield, Jean has a particular interest in RNA therapeutics. She works closely with clients in the RNA therapeutics space, including companies that develop RNA modalities ranging from siRNAs, gapmers, splicing switching antisense oligonucleotides, RNA editing oligonucleotides, CRISPR guide RNAs, tRNAs, RNA aptamers, mRNAs, circular RNAs, and antibody-oligonucleotide conjugates. With a deep appreciation of the opportunities and challenges in RNA research and drug development, Jean is uniquely positioned to serve clients in the RNA therapeutics field from technical, legal, regulatory, and business perspectives.

While her practice spans a wide range of life sciences technology areas, Jean also has extensive experience in developing patent portfolios for protecting biologic therapeutics and in aligning patent strategies with regulatory strategies and product life cycle globally to provide strong exclusivity positions for clinical programs. She is also an invited speaker at international conferences on patent strategies for complex biologic therapeutic molecules such as antibody-drug conjugates and antibody-oligonucleotide conjugates.

Contributing to the biotech innovation community extends beyond Jean’s role at Wolf Greenfield. Jean mentors early-stage biotech companies in prestigious forums and networks. Her approach blends a deep understanding of scientific intricacies with a forward-thinking perspective on how IP drives value for early-stage companies. Jean regularly provides educational seminars to company founders on intellectual property basics and on establishing infrastructure for the development of intellectual property.

Experience

• Developed and managed a patent portfolio and implemented worldwide patent strategy for an early-stage biotech company that successfully raised over $400 million to develop life-changing therapies for rare muscle diseases, which is now a clinical stage company with multiple pipelines
• Developing and implementing coordinated patent strategies including global exclusivity strategies and third-party patent risk management strategies for companies developing antibody, ADC, AOC, and RNA therapeutics
• Managing worldwide patent portfolios and developing global exclusivity strategies for clinical candidates in the immuno-oncology space and RNA therapeutics space for global pharmaceutical company
• Assisted global pharmaceutical company in IP due diligence in relation to the acquisition of a clinical stage biotech company in the immuno-oncology space for $525 million
• Assisted global pharmaceutical company in IP due diligence in relation to the acquisition of a pre-clinical stage biotech company in the cell therapy space for $950 million
• Conducted IP due diligence for private equity companies in connection with financing of early-stage biotech companies in the RNA-therapeutics space
• Represented early-stage biotech companies in defending IP due diligence in connection with private fund raising, IPO, and acquisition
• Represented Chinese biopharma companies in defending IP due diligence in connection with licensing-out and NewCo establishment in the US
• Collaborated with European counsel to develop and execute successful oppositions strategies
• Developed and executed coordinated portfolio development strategies addressing double patenting issues in patent portfolio covering biologic therapeutics
• Drafted and negotiated patent license agreements and IP provisions in sponsored research agreements

Activities

• Key Opinion Leaders Advisory Board for Oxford Global’s Biologics conference series
• The Society of RNA Therapeutics
• RNA Society
• Women in Bio
• Start-up mentor for Nucleate, MassChallenge, MassBioDrive, Swissnex, and The eForum

Recognition

• Recognized on the Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch list by The Best Lawyers in America® (2025)
• Named to the list of Massachusetts Rising Stars by Super Lawyers (2023, 2024)
• Law Dean's Scholarship, Suffolk University Law School (2018-2021)
• Trustee Academic Scholarship, Suffolk University Law School (2018-2021)
• NIH Intramural Research Training Award, National Institutes of Health (2012)

Interests

• Rock Climbing
• Golf
• Hiking
• Cooking