Previously, Dr. Fehlner was Head of Intellectual Property for Novartis Pharma in Basel, Switzerland. In this role, he led a team responsible for obtaining, maintaining, and enforcing IP rights. The team created holistic portfolios of patents, trademarks, regulatory exclusivities, and reputation for Novartis products.

Dr. Fehlner joined Novartis in 2008 from Baker Botts, where he was a partner specializing in IP counselling and strategic planning in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries, as well as litigation. Prior to that he was an associate and partner at Darby & Darby, with earlier experience as Biotechnology Counsel for Rhöne-Poulenc Rorer and as an associate for boutique IP firm Klauber & Jackson. Dr. Fehlner started his career in 1990 as a law clerk in the biotech and pharmaceutical group at Pennie & Edmonds. In addition to life sciences, Dr. Fehlner has worked on chemical and material sciences technologies.

Paul is currently serving as Chief Intellectual Property Officer at Axcella Health, a clinical stage biotechnology company in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

He is also Principal of Life Sciences Innovation LLC, a consulting company he founded in 2017 to advise on complex IP business strategy for products and technologies in life sciences, develop capabilities of legal and IP professionals, and provide BD&L support for research institutes, companies, and investors.

Dr. Fehlner has a JD from Fordham University School of Law, a PhD in immunology and biochemistry from Rockefeller University (Lois P Markey Fellow), and a BS in chemistry from Haverford College (high honors; Phi Beta Kappa). He has been named to the IAM Strategy 300 World Leading Patent Professionals for the past five years.