Aurion Biotech Appoints Jonathan Sparks, JD, PhD as Chief Legal Officer

Deep Expertise in Intellectual Property to Support Company’s Innovations

SEATTLE, BOSTON & TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aurion Biotech, whose mission is to restore vision to millions of patients with its life-changing regenerative therapies, today announced it has appointed Dr. Jonathan Sparks as chief legal officer. Dr. Sparks will lead the company’s global legal affairs team.

“We are delighted to welcome Jon to Aurion Biotech,” said Greg Kunst, chief executive officer. “In addition to his deep expertise in intellectual property and legal affairs, Jon has a wealth of general management experience with emerging biotech companies, which will benefit us enormously as we enter into our next phase of innovation and growth.”

In addition to his role at Aurion, Dr. Jonathan Sparks is also a partner and chair of the Intellectual Property practice at McCarter & English, LLP. He has over 20 years of experience as a legal professional representing life science companies, both as outside counsel and as an executive at companies. In his private practice, Dr. Sparks counsels clients on general intellectual property matters, including patent prosecution, domestic and foreign patent strategy, due diligence, and patent lifecycle management. He also has extensive experience with patentability, infringement, validity, and freedom-to-operate analysis. Dr. Sparks has previously served as general counsel, chief Intellectual property counsel and chief compliance officer for Ocular Therapeutix, Inc., and general counsel for Applied Genetic Technologies Corporation.

Prior to starting his legal career, Dr. Sparks conducted research in the areas of physical biochemistry and molecular biology while obtaining his PhD at Texas A&M University. In addition to his PhD, Dr. Sparks holds a JD from Suffolk University Law School and a BA in Biochemistry from Ithaca College.

Dr. Sparks is a member of the Massachusetts Bar, the US Patent & Trademark Office, the American Intellectual Property Law Association, the Boston Patent Law Association and the Boston Bar Association.

About Aurion Biotech

With offices in Seattle, Boston and Tokyo, Aurion Biotech is a clinical-stage biotech company, whose mission is to restore vision to millions of patients with its life-changing regenerative therapies. The Company’s first candidate is for the treatment of corneal edema secondary to endothelial dysfunction, and is one of the first clinically validated cell therapies for corneal care. Aurion Biotech is the recipient of the prestigious Prix Galien award for best start-up in biotech. The Company is preparing for clinical trials in the U.S. Privately held, Aurion Biotech is backed by leading investors that include Deerfield, Alcon, Petrichor, Flying L Partners, Falcon Vision / KKR, and Visionary Ventures. To learn more about Aurion Biotech, visit www.aurionbiotech.com.