Eric Owens

Dr. Eric A. Owens prepares and prosecutes domestic and international patent applications in the chemical, biotech and pharmaceutical industries and is well-versed in strategically managing patent portfolios. With an eye for detail, Eric assists clients in the preparation of invalidity, non-infringement, patentability, freedom-to-operate and other product clearance opinions. Eric also performs IP diligence in connection with mergers, acquisitions and secured financial transactions.

Prior to joining Cooley, Eric worked as a patent agent in the Washington, DC office of Haynes and Boone and with the licensing and patent groups at Office of Technology Transfer at Emory University.

Eric completed his PhD in organic and medicinal chemistry, under the direction of Dr. Hak Soo Choi at Harvard Medical School and Dr. Maged Henary at Georgia State University where he designed and successfully completed several highly impactful research projects. Specifically, his near-infrared fluorescent imaging research helped create a paradigm shift in cancer surgery by allowing surgeons to visualize native and diseased tissue in real-time resulting in more precise surgical resections and improved patient prognosis. Eric also investigated G-quadruplex targeted anti-cancer theranostic agents, synthetic derivatives of natural products as anti-cancer treatments and new environmentally friendly synthetic protocols for the preparation of both common heterocycles and complex molecules. Eric helped manage a highly active chemistry laboratory and gained vast firsthand experience in a wide range of disciplines, including synthetic, medicinal and heterocyclic chemistry, imaging technology (SPECT, PET, MRI, NIR, photoacoustic, etc.), fluorescent sensors, nucleic acids, photodynamic therapy and bioanalytical chemistry.

Eric published over 30 manuscripts in highly esteemed journals like Nature Medicine, Accounts of Chemical Research and Angewandte Chemie and currently serves on the editorial board of the journal Expert Opinion of Therapeutic Patents as an expert in diagnostics and bioanalytical chemistry.

Representative Publications

• Owens, E.A., et al., Tissue-Specific Near-infrared Imaging. Accounts of Chemical Research 2016, 49 (9), pp. 1731–1740.
• Owens, E.A., et al., Near-Infrared Illumination of Native Tissues for Image-Guided Surgery Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 2016 59 (11), pp. 5311–5323. 
• Owens, E.A.*, Hyun, H.*, Wada, H., Levitz, A., Park, G., Park, M., H., Frangioni, J. V., Henary, M., Choi, H. S., Cartilage Specific Near-Infrared Fluorophores for Biomedical Imaging Angewandte Chemie 2015 54 (30), pp. 8648-8652 Hot Article—Top 10% of Publications. *Co-First Authors. 
• Hyun, H., Park, M. H. Owens, E.A., Wada, H., Henary, M., Frangioni, J. V., and Choi, H. S. Parathyroid and Thyroid Gland Imaging using Fluorinated Polymethines Nature Medicine 2015, 21, pp. 192-197. 
• Owens, E.A., et al. Correlating Molecular Character of NIR Imaging Agents with Endocrine-Specific Uptake Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 2015 58 (10), pp. 4348–4356. 
• Owens, E.A.*, Njiojob, C.*, Narayana, L.*, Hyun, H., Choi, H. S., Henary, M., Tailored Near-Infrared Contrast Agents for Image Guided Surgery Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 2015 58 (6), pp. 2845-54. *Co-First Authors. 
• Owens, E.A., et al., A Microwave-Assisted and Environmentally Benign Approach to the Synthesis of Near-Infrared Fluorescent Pentamethine Cyanine Dyes Dyes and Pigments 2015 113, 27-37. 
• Owens, E.A., et al. NIR Fluorescent Small Molecules for Intraoperative Imaging Wiley Interdiscip Rev Nanomed Nanobiotechnol. 2015, 7, pp. 828–838.