Gabe McCool

Gabe McCool is Counsel with Wolf Greenfield. Gabe focuses on strategic intellectual property counseling, patent prosecution, and transactions in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and chemical areas. He has the uncommon combination of over two decades of private practice experience and extensive in-house leadership experience at start-up biotechnology and global pharmaceutical companies that he brings to his practice at Wolf Greenfield. Shaped by both private and company side experience, Gabe advises clients on complex IP matters with a first-hand understanding of how IP impacts overall business risk, transactions, partnering, fundraising, and decision-making.

Prior to rejoining Wolf Greenfield in 2024, Gabe served as Head of Intellectual Property at a biotech start-up company focused on building a platform for precise delivery of genetic medicines. He also served as Vice President of Legal and IP for a pre-clinical biotechnology company focused on developing RNA therapeutics. There, he held a leadership role in developing the company’s legal and IP strategies throughout the full arch of the business from stealth mode, financing, partnering, and successful exiting. Gabe also has significant experience practicing as an in-house patent counsel for a global pharmaceutical company having managed patent portfolios covering FDA-approved pharmaceuticals and delivery systems. Serving in these company-side roles in highly crowded and competitive market landscapes has given Gabe a distinct perspective on how IP and other legal considerations fit into corporate planning, decisions, and risk navigation.

Over his twenty-year career in private practice—nearly a quarter of which has been at Wolf Greenfield—Gabe has focused his counseling on matters such as IP strategy, global portfolio management, preparing and prosecuting patent applications, and conducting due diligence investigations in support of financing, licensing, acquisitions, and other complex transactions. He regularly provides opinions on patentability, freedom-to-operate, patent non-infringement/infringement, and patent invalidity.

With a doctorate in microbiology and a bachelor’s in biochemistry and molecular biology, Gabe’s technical experience spans a wide range of scientific areas, including genetic medicines, gene editing, gene therapies, cell therapies, antibody therapies, vaccines, drug delivery systems, medical devices, and bioprocessing technologies. Over his career, he has helped countless clients from academic entities to biotech start-ups to pre- and clinical-stage companies, to global biopharma and medical device companies by providing sound legal advice and securing important IP rights results in a manner that syncs, supports, and advances corporate business objectives.