Laura Berezin

Laura Berezin is a member of Cooley's business department leadership team. She focuses her practice on corporate securities, M&A and complex corporate finance transactions, with a particular emphasis on representing clients in the life sciences industry. She represents public and private corporations, investment banks, venture capital funds, and financial institutions both in the United States and Europe in a variety of capital market transactions, including public offerings, private placements, PIPES and 144A transactions. Laura has extensive experience in representing life science companies in spin-outs and other domestic and cross-border M&A. Her general corporate practice includes formation and financing activities, securities compliance, public company disclosure and corporate governance matters. She also has extensive experience in counseling publicly-traded life sciences companies and their boards of directors. Laura has also served as a member of BIO's Emerging Company Governing Board. 

Laura is listed in The Best Lawyers in America in the categories of Biotechnology Law, Securities and Capital Markets Law and Securities Regulation and has been named Lawyer of the Year in Biotechnology Law and Securities Regulation. She is recognized in Chambers USA as a leading lawyer in Life Sciences and in 2018 Laura won LMG Life Sciences Corporate Attorney of the Year award. She is recognized by Legal 500 US for Life Sciences, Capital Markets and M&A: Venture Capital and Emerging Companies as well as PLC – Which Lawyer? in the Equity Capital Markets and Corporate Life Sciences practice areas and was recognized as one of the Top 25 Biotech Lawyers in California in 2011 by The Daily Journal.

Since 2006, Laura has been selected annually by Law and Politics Magazine as one of Northern California's Super Lawyers, a designation which ranks her in the top 5% of attorneys in Northern California. 

In more than 30 years of practicing law, Laura has represented issuers and investment banks in over 100 public offerings of equity or debt. Notable transactions include:

• Kezar Life Sciences in its initial and follow-on public offerings
• VIR Biotechnology in multiple licensing and acquisition transactions and its initial public offering
• Five Prime Therapeutics in its initial and follow-on public offerings and its sale to Amgen for $1.9 billion  
• Harpoon Therapeutics in its initial and follow-on public offerings
• Bicycle Therapeutics in its follow-on public offerings
• Immune Design Corporation in its initial and follow-on public offerings and its sale to Merck
• Ovid Therapeutics in its initial and follow-on public offerings 
• Syndax Pharmaceuticals in its initial and follow-on public offerings 
• Multiple venture capital funds and other investment vehicles in private preferred stock and PIPE financings
• Multiple issuers in various preferred stock and convertible note financings