Hans Sauer is Deputy General Counsel, and Vice President for Intellectual Property for the Biotechnology Industry Organization, a major trade association representing over 1,100 biotechnology companies from the medical, agricultural, environmental and industrial sector. At BIO, Mr. Sauer advises the organization’s board of directors, amicus committee, and various staff committees on patent and other intellectual property-related matters. Prior to taking his current position at BIO in 2006, Professor Sauer was Chief Patent Counsel for MGI Pharma, Inc., and Senior Patent Counsel for Guilford Pharmaceuticals Inc. Mr. Sauer has 18 years of professional in-house experience in the biotechnology industry, where he worked on several drug development programs, being responsible for patent prosecution and portfolio oversight, clinical trial health information privacy, and sales and marketing legal compliance. Mr. Sauer did his postdoctoral fellowship at Genentech, Inc. in South San Francisco, and holds a M.S. degree from the University of Ulm in his native Germany; a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Lund, Sweden; and a J.D. degree from Georgetown University Law Center.