Emma van Embden

Emma is a commercially focused patent attorney who helps pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medtech companies build patent portfolios that support investment, partnering, public market readiness and long-term value creation.

She advises universities, research institutes, venture-backed companies, start-ups, ASX-listed companies, and multinationals on patent strategy, portfolio development, IP due diligence, freedom to operate, patentability and validity. Emma regularly conducts both investor-side and company-side diligence, delivering clear, commercial advice to support investment decisions, transactions and capital markets activity. Her practice is particularly focused on securing robust, commercially meaningful claim scope that protects key products and withstands diligence scrutiny.

Emma has deep technical expertise across life sciences and related technologies, including small molecules (salts, polymorphs and prodrugs), pharmaceutical formulations and dosage forms, combination therapies and administration routes, oligonucleotides, peptides and antibodies, biomaterials and nanomaterials, medical devices, manufacturing processes, biomarker diagnostics, exosomes, antibody-drug conjugates and agricultural products.

Representative experience includes:

• Representing a public oncology company in drafting and filing strategy supporting a $30 million financing
• Representing a VC-backed peptide vaccine company through a $60 million Series B financing
• Representing a multinational agricultural company in AU/NZ opposition proceedings, where prior use evidence supported a favourable global settlement
• Advising companies in connection with public offerings and IPO readiness
• Developing and managing patent portfolios for companies including:
  
  • a start-up developing a bioresorbable brachytherapy device
  • a public company developing oligonucleotide therapeutics for treating inflammation and cancer
  • university-originating radiotherapy technology licensed to a public company
  • multiple venture-backed companies developing small molecule therapies across metabolic disease, inflammation, oncology and ophthalmology.

Clients value Emma’s ability to combine technical depth with commercial judgement and operate as a true strategic partner:

“Emma brings strong technical capability alongside sound commercial judgement and provides advice that is clear, pragmatic, and reliable. She understands the broader business context, particularly in building and de‑risking our IP position in a way that supports long‑term value creation and IPO readiness.”

“Emma has been instrumental in helping us build a very strong position within the space of immunomodulatory oligonucleotides. Although this is a new and complex drug discovery angle, Emma has been able to develop a deep understanding of the technology very quickly and provide extremely valuable advice regarding the patenting strategy around our various assets.”

“Her insight into freedom to operate was pivotal in our selection of target classes to work on and her help with identifying chemical classes with the potential for composition of matter IP invaluable.”

“What sets Emma apart is her ability to communicate and coach us through the complexities and trade-offs of strategic decisions in a clear and pragmatic manner.”

Emma works closely with founders, technology transfer offices and investors to ensure patent strategy reflects both the science and the business objective – whether securing funding, protecting a lead product, supporting licensing or mitigating third-party risk.

Prior to joining FPA, Emma completed her PhD at the University of Melbourne and the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, specialising in nanotechnology and biochemistry. She has authored peer-reviewed articles in journals including ACS Nano, Small and the Journal of Molecular Biology.