Kingsley Taft is a partner and co-chair of Goodwin's Life Sciences group and a former member of the Allocations and Executive Committees. He represents emerging to mature life sciences companies in all aspects of their business and legal affairs, including company formation, venture financings, strategic alliances, M&A, IPOs and other capital market transactions, and other financing and commercial transactions. Kingsley has extensive experience in assisting clients with JVs, strategic alliances, licenses, and collaborations.
Kingsley has been recognized as one of the leading life sciences attorney by numerous legal guides. He has been recognized by Chambers in Life Sciences: Corporate Commercial at the Band One level in the USA (18 years), Global (5 years) and Massachusetts (2 years). Kingsley was inducted into the LMG Life Sciences Hall of Fame, named a Biotechnology and Life Sciences Lawyer of the Year in 2022 by The Best Lawyers in America, and is regularly named a Life Sciences Thought Leader by Who’s Who Legal - Global Elite.
Under his leadership, Goodwin’s Life Sciences Practice has received numerous awards and honors, including U.S. News’ Biotechnology Law Firm of the Year for seven out of ten years running (2013 through 2015, and 2017 through 2021), Law360 Life Sciences Group of the Year (2016), LMG Life Sciences’ Licensing & Collaboration Firm of the Year (2023), Corporate Law Firm of the Year (2019) and Venture Capital Law Firm of the Year (2016), and perennial nationwide recognition by Chambers USA.
Before attending Harvard Law School, Kingsley earned a BS in Chemistry from Yale University and a PhD in Chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Representative Matters
- Repertoire® Immune Medicines in its strategic collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb for tolerizing vaccines, for an upfront of $65 million, and up to $1.8 billion in milestones in addition to tiered royalties
- Human Immunology Biosciences (HI-Bio™) on its acquisition by Biogen for $1.15 billion upfront and up to $650 million in potential milestone payments
- Flagship Pioneering in Novo Nordisk’s research collaboration with Metaphore Biotechnologies, Inc. to leverage its proprietary MIMIC™ platform technology
- Mariana Oncology on its acquisition by Novartis for $1 billion upfront and up to $750 million in potential milestone payments
- Heidelberg Pharma in its royalty financing agreement with Healthcare Royalty for up to $115 million on Zircaix™ (TLX250-CDx)
- Isomorphic Labs on its collaboration with Novartis for small molecule therapeutics, for an upfront payment of $37.5 million and up to $1.2 billion in performance-based milestone payments
- Flagship Pioneering in Novo Nordisk’s separate research collaborations with Omega Therapeutics and Cellarity for obesity management and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, respectively
- Q32 Bio Inc. in its definitive merger agreement to combine with Homology Medicines, Inc.
- Mablink Bioscience on its acquisition by Eli Lilly and Company
- Teva Pharmaceuticals in its collaboration with Sanofi to co-develop and co-commercialize asset TEV ‘574, for Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn's Disease, for an upfront of $500 million and up to $1 billion in milestones
- Aditum Bio and its new portfolio company, Celexor Bio, in an in-licensing transaction with Inmagene Biopharmaceuticals
- EryDel SpA on its sale to Quince Therapeutics for up to $485 million in potential downstream milestones for the treatment of rare diseases delivered by its proprietary red blood cell technology
- Flagship Pioneering on its partnership with Pfizer to create a new pipeline of innovative medicines for $100 million combined upfront commitment and up to $700 million in milestones plus royalties for each program
- Korro Bio in its definitive merger agreement with Frequency Therapeutics to focus on the advancement of Korro Bio’s portfolio of RNA editing programs
- Nanobiotix S.A. in its worldwide licensing agreement with Janssen Pharmaceutica NV for NBTXR3, a first-in class radioenhancer, for an upfront of $30 million and up to $1.8 billion in milestone payments
- Surface Oncology on its acquisition by Coherus BioSciences for $40 million net cash at closing
- Haystack Oncology on its acquisition by Quest Diagnostics for $300 million in cash at closing and up to an additional $150 million on achieving future performance milestones
- Tubulis in its strategic license agreement with Bristol Myers Squibb to develop differentiated ADCs for cancer, for an upfront of $22.75 million and up to $1 billion in milestones plus royalties
- Moderna Therapeutics in its strategic collaboration with Generation Bio, for an upfront of $40 million and a $36 million equity investment
- Moderna Therapeutics in its strategic collaboration with Life Edit Therapeutics Inc., an ElevateBio company; Life Edit will receive an upfront and is eligible to receive milestones , in addition to tiered royalties
- Entrada Therapeutics on its global collaboration with Vertex on intracellular Endosomal Escape Vehicle (EEV™) therapeutics for DM1, for an upfront of $250 million and up to $485 million in milestones
- FibroGen, Inc. on its capped royalty monetization financing with NovaQuest Capital Management, for an upfront payment of $50 million in exchange for a percentage of future royalties on sales of EVRENZO®
- SpringWorks Therapeutics in its non-exclusive arrangement with GSK for SpringWorks’ nirogacestat in combination with GSK’s Blenrep, for up to $550 million in payments
- Q32 Bio in its collaboration and option with Horizon Therapeutics Ireland DAC for ADX-914 for autoimmune diseases, for up to $55 million in near-term payments and $645 million in closing and milestone payments
- Palleon Pharmaceuticals in its collaboration agreement with Shanghai Henlius Biotech for two bifunctional sialidase programs from Palleon’s EAGLE (Enzyme-Antibody Glyco-Ligand Editing) platform
- HIBio in its equity participation agreement and license agreements with MorphoSys to develop and commercialize MorphoSys’ felzartamab, and MOR210
- Flagship Pioneering in its strategic collaboration with Novo Nordisk A/S to create a portfolio of novel research programs to develop transformational medicines
- Ncardia Belgium SA in its strategic collaboration with Quell Therapeutics to develop a pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) -derived T-regulatory (Treg) cell therapy platform
- Jocasta Neuroscience in its exclusive license agreement with UNITY Biotechnology to continue development of α-klotho program, with an up-front payment and additional milestones and royalties
- Prime Medicine in its exclusive option and research collaboration agreement with Myeloid Therapeutics, with an upfront of $45 million
- Arrakis Therapeutics on its collaboration agreement with Amgen for RNA degrader therapeutics, for $75 million upfront and up to several billion dollars in milestones and royalties
- Acadia Pharmaceuticals on its collaboration agreement with Stoke Therapeutics to for novel RNA-based medicines for CNS, for an upfront payment of $60 million and up to $907 million in milestones and royalties
- Absci Corporation on its research collaboration agreement with Merck, using Absci’s AI-powered Integrated Drug Creation™ Platform for up to $610 million in upfront fees and milestone payments
- Generate Biomedicines on its collaboration agreement with Amgen for protein therapeutics, for an upfront of $50 million with a potential transaction value of $1.9 billion plus future royalties
- Blueprint Medicines on its acquisition of Lengo Therapeutics for $250 million upfront and up to $465 million in total for an oral precision therapy in development for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)
- Moderna Therapeutics in its strategic research and development collaboration with Metagenomi focused on advancing new gene editing systems for in vivo human therapeutic applications
- Flagship Pioneering in a first-of-its-kind strategic partnership with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and Pioneering Medicines to develop therapeutics for cystic fibrosis, with $110 million committed funding
- Codiak BioSciences in the sale of its exosome manufacturing facility located in Lexington, Massachusetts (US) to Lonza; Codiak will receive approximately $65 million of cGMP manufacturing services in kind
- Exicure in its collaboration agreement with Ipsen on Spherical Nucleic Acids (SNAs) for Huntington’s disease and Angelman syndrome, for an upfront of $20 million and up to $1 billion in milestones
- Arvinas on its global collaboration with Pfizer for ARV-471, an investigational oral PROTAC® (PROteolysis TArgeting Chimera) protein degrader, for an upfront of $650 million and up to $1.4 billion in milestones
- Amathus Therapeutics on its strategic collaboration with Merck on therapeutic candidates for neurodegenerative diseases, for an upfront payment and milestone payments in excess of $500 million
- AbSci on its acquisition of deep learning company, Denovium
- Biond Biologics on its exclusive worldwide license agreement with Sanofi, for BND-22, for an upfront of $125 million and up to more than $1 billion in milestones, as well as tiered double digit royalty payments
- Celsius Therapeutics on its strategic collaboration with Servier, focused on novel colorectal cancer (CRC) drug targets, for an upfront , research funding and up to $700 million in future milestones
- Surface Oncology on its exclusive agreement with GSK for its preclinical program SRF813, for an upfront payment of $85 million and up to $730 million in future milestone payments, as well as tiered royalties
- Cadent Therapeutics on its acquisition by Novartis for an upfront payment of $210 million and up to $560 million in milestone payments, for an overall deal value of up to $770 million, for its neuroscience portfolio
- Relay Therapeutics on its collaboration with Genentech for RLY-1971, with an upfront of $75 million, a near-term milestone of $25 million and up to $695 million in additional potential milestones, plus royalties
- insitro on its collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb for novel therapies to treat ALS and FTD, with an upfront of $50 million, a near-term milestone of $20 million, royalties and up to $2 billion in milestones
- Vedere Bio on its acquisition by Novartis for $150 million upfront and up to $130 million in milestone payments, for an overall deal value of up to $280 million, for its novel optogenetics AAV gene therapy
- SpringWorks Therapeutics on its exclusive arrangement with Jazz Pharmaceuticals for in fatty acid amide hydrolase inhibitor program, for an upfront of $35 million, up to $375 million in milestones and royalties
- Thrive Earlier Detection Corp. on its acquisition by Exact Sciences Corp. for cash and stock of $1.7 billion at closing and up to $450 million in milestones, for an overall deal value of up to $2.15 billion
- HiFiBiO on its collaboration with Kite, a Gilead company, in acute myeloid leukemia
- Teva Pharmaceuticals on its collaboration with Alvotech for the commercialization in the U.S. of five biosimilar product candidates, for an upfront payment, milestones and profit share
- Blueprint Medicines on its global collaboration with F. Hoffmann-La Roche and Genentech for pralsetinib, for an upfront of $675 million, equity investment of $100 million, up to $927 million in milestones, and a 50/50 US profit share and ex-US royalties
- RTW Investments and Ji Xing Pharmaceuticals on a license and financing with Cytokinetics, for committed proceeds of up to $250 million and up to $200 million in milestone payments plus royalties
- Corvidia Therapeutics in its acquisition by Novo Nordisk for $725 million up-front and up to $2.1 billion in total for transformative cardio-renal therapies
- Alnylam Pharmaceuticals in its four strategic financing transactions with Blackstone for the advancement of innovative RNA interference (RNAi) medicines, valued at $2 billion
- Arrakis Therapeutics in its strategic collaboration with Roche for the discovery of RNA-targeted small molecule (rSM) drugs, for $190 million up-front and up to more than several billion dollars
- Flexion Therapeutics in its exclusive license agreement with HK Tainuo and Jiangsu Tainuo for ZILRETTA in Greater China for an upfront payment of $10 million and up to more than $30 million in milestones
- Promedior Inc. in its acquisition by Roche for $390 million up-front and up to $1.4 billion in total value, for its lead asset PRM-151 for treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF)
- Semma Therapeutics in its acquisition by Vertex Pharmaceuticals for $950 million up-front, for its stem cell-derived human islets technology as a potentially curative treatment for type 1 diabetes
- Ultragenyx in its partnership with GeneTx to advance treatment for Angelman Syndrome for $20 million up-front in return for an option to acquire the company
- insitro in its strategic collaboration with Gilead Sciences to develop therapies for patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), with up to $50 million in near-term payments and $1 billion in deal value
- Alnylam Pharmaceuticals in its collaboration with Regeneron for RNAi therapeutics focused on ocular and CNS diseases with announced deal value up to $1 billion
- Ipsen in its acquisition of Clementia Pharmaceuticals with a transaction value of $1.31 billion, including a CVR based on the multiple osteochondromas indication for palovarotene
- Verseau Therapeutics on its partnership agreement with 3SBio Inc. focused on novel monoclonal antibodies in the field of immuno-oncology for a broad range of cancers, along with a $10 million Series B investment
- Esperion Therapeutics in its agreement with Daiichi Sankyo Europe regarding bempedoic acid and combinations in Europe, for $300 million upfront, up to $900 million in total milestones, and royalties
- Scholar Rock in its collaboration with Gilead Sciences for inhibitors of transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ) activation to treat fibrotic diseases, for $80 million up front and up to $1.4 billion in milestones
- MacroGenics in its arrangement with Zai Lab for Margetuximab, MGD013 and a TRIDENT™ molecule in greater China, for $25 million upfront, up to $140 million in milestone payments, and double-digit royalties
- SpringWorks Therapeutics in its global clinical collaboration with BeiGene to evaluate combining BeiGene’s investigational RAF dimer inhibitor and SpringWorks Therapeutics’ investigational MEK inhibitor
- Ambys Medicines in forming a strategic partnership with Takeda and concurrent $140 million funding
- Wave Life Sciences in its strategic collaboration with Takeda to develop nucleic acid therapies for disorders of the central nervous system for $110 million upfront and up to $2 billion in milestone payments
- Aerpio Therapeutics in its global license agreement with Gossamer Bio, with $20 million up-front, potential milestones of up to $400 million, and royalties ranging from a high single digit to mid-teen percentage
- Foundation Medicine in its collaboration agreement and equity transaction with Roche, with total deal value in excess of $1 billion and subsequent merger with Roche valued at $2.4 billion
- Moderna Therapeutics in numerous strategic transactions with AstraZeneca, Merck and others with upfront deal value in excess of $1 billion in cash and equity, plus downstream payments
- Fresenius Medical Care in global partnership with Humacyte to commercialize the investigational human acellular vessel HUMACYL; Fresenius made a $150 million equity investment in Humacyte
- Warp Drive Bio in its collaboration with Roche on novel classes of antibiotics, valued up to $387 million
- Dimension Therapeutics in its $151 tender offer and contested sale to Ultragenyx
- Teva Pharmaceuticals in three related sales of its specialty global women’s health business for a combined deal value of $2.5 billion, CooperSurgical, CVC Capital Partners and Foundation Consumer Healthcare
- Delinia Therapeutics in its sale to Celgene, valued up to $775 million with up-front payment of $300 million
- Pieris Pharmaceuticals in its strategic collaboration with AstraZeneca to develop novel inhaled drugs that leverage Pieris’ Anticalin platform, for deal value of up to $2.1 billion
- Medicxi Ventures as an investor in Impact Biomedicines in its sale to Celgene for up to $7 billion
- Royalty Pharma in its acquisition from Perrigo Company of royalty rights to Tysabri for up to $2.8 billion
- Teva Pharmaceuticals in its global agreement with Regeneron for the phase 3 novel nerve growth factor antibody fasinumab, for $250 million upfront and a share in its global commercial value
- Pieris Pharmaceuticals in its collaboration with Servier for a dual-checkpoint inhibitor and up to seven other immuno-oncology bispecific drug candidates, for a deal value of up to €1.7 billion
- Morgan Stanley as financial advisor to Stemcentrx in its sale to AbbVie for $5.8 billion in cash and stock, and up to an additional $4 billion in cash in success-based milestone payments
- Intellia Therapeutics in its multi-year collaboration with Regeneron on CRISPR/Cas gene-editing technology for in vivo therapeutic development, with $75 million upfront and potential milestone and royalty payments
- Padlock Therapeutics in its sale to Bristol-Myers Squibb, valued up to $600 million with up-front and near-term payments of $225 million
- Blueprint Medicines in its collaboration with Roche, up to $1 billion in value with $45 million upfront
- Surface Oncology in its collaboration with Novartis to develop next generation immunotherapeutics, with Surface to receive up to $170 million in near term cash, plus milestones and royalties
- Promedior in its option agreement with Bristol-Myers Squibb with potential deal value of up to $1.25 billion
- Unum Therapeutics in its strategic collaboration with Seattle Genetics to develop and commercialize novel antibody-coupled T-cell receptor (ACTR) therapies for cancer, with potential deal value of $615 million
- Teva Pharmaceuticals in its acquisition of Labrys Biologics, for $200 million cash and up to $825 million
- Nogra Pharma in its $710 million global license agreement with Celgene for therapies to treat Crohn’s disease with a total potential deal value up to $2.6 billion in milestones, plus royalties
- bluebird bio in its global collaboration with Celgene and subsequent update for gene therapies to treat cancer with deal value up to $300 million
- Entrada Therapeutics in its $100 million registered direct offering
- Rapport Therapeutics in its $174.4 million initial public offering and concurrent private placement
- Prime Medicine in its $199 million initial public offering
- Scholar Rock in its $205 million registered direct offering and $92.5 million underwritten offering of common stock
- Vigil Neuroscience in its $98 million initial public offering and $40 million private placement
- Absci Corporation in its $230 million initial public offering and $86.4 million follow-on offering
- SpringWorks Therapeutics in its $186.3 million initial public offering, $287.5 million and $316.25 million follow-on offerings and $225 million private placement
- Kaleido Biosciences in its $75 million initial public offering and its $35.6 million follow-on offering
- Scholar Rock in its $86 million initial public offering, and subsequent $51 million and $230 million follow-on offerings
- Axcella Health in its $71 million initial public offering and $25 million and $34 million registered direct offering
- HOOKIPA Pharma in its $84 million initial public offering
- Moderna Therapeutics in its $604 million initial public offering and follow-on offerings
- Blueprint Medicines in its $147 million initial public offering and subsequent $143 million, $230 million, $350 million, and $327 million follow-on offerings
- Aerpio Therapeutics in its $40 million reverse merger and private placement and subsequent $45 million follow-on offering and up-listing to NASDAQ
- Surface Oncology in its $108 million initial public offering and concurrent $11.5 million private placement
- Unum Therapeutics in its $69 million initial public offering and concurrent $5 million private placement
- aTyr Pharma in its $75 million initial public offering and $45 million subsequent equity financing
- Fate Therapeutics in its $40 million IPO, $30 million follow-on offering, and $57 million structured PIPE
- Ra Pharmaceuticals in its $105 million initial public offering
- Dimension Therapeutics in its $72 million initial public offering
- Foundation Medicine in its $106 million initial public offering
- Marea Therapeutics in its $190 million combined Series A and B financings
- Pheon Therapeutics in its $120 million Series B financing
- Delphia Therapeutics in its launch and $67 million Series A financing
- Human Immunology Biosciences (HI-Bio) in its $95 million Series B financing
- Mariana Oncology Inc. on its oversubscribed $175 million Series B financing
- K36 Therapeutics on its $70 million Series B financing
- AAVantgarde Bio on its €61 million Series A financing
- Rapport Therapeutics on its launch and $100 million Series A financing
- Bicara Therapeutics on its oversubscribed $108 million Series B financing
- FogPharma in its $178 million Series D and $145 million Series E financings
- Webster Equity Partners in three concurrent transactions with the Corium companies and Radius Health
- Sonothera in its $60 million Series A financing
- Nuvig Therapeutics in its $47 million Series A financing
- MOMA Therapeutics on its $150 million Series B Financing
- LifeMine Therapeutics on its $175 million Series C financing
- Curie Therapeutics on its $75 million Series A financing
- Delix Therapeutics on its $70 Million Series A financing
- Korro Bio on its $116 million Series B financing
- Vigil Neuroscience on its $90 million Series B financing
- InterVenn Biosciences in its $34 million Series B and $201 million Series C financings
- Prime Medicine™ on its launch and funding rounds totaling $315 million
- Vedere Bio II on its launch and $77 million Series A financing
- AbSci on its $125 million crossover financing and its $65 million Series E equity financing
- Palleon Pharmaceuticals in its $100 million Series B financing
- Q32 Bio on its $60 million Series B financing
- Hillhouse Capital on its investment in Everest Medicine’s Series C financing of $310 million
- Cerevance on its $45 million Series B financing
- Moma Therapeutics on its launch and $86 million Series A financing
- Xilio Therapeutics on its $100.5 million Series B financing
- EQRx in its $200 million Series A financing
- Triplet Therapeutics, Inc. in its $49 million Series A financing
- Verseau Therapeutics in its launch and $50 million financing
- Arrakis Therapeutics in its $75 million Series B financing
- SpringWorks Therapeutics in its $125 million Series B financing
- Medicxi Ventures in its $40 million Series D financing of Aura Biosciences
- HOOKIPA Pharma in its $37 Series D financing to advance its clinical programs
- Cadent Therapeutics in its $40 million financing
- Akrevia in its $30 million financing
- Rheostat Therapeutics in its $23 million financing to develop treatments for neurodegenerative disease
- Alector Corporation in its most recent $133 million financing and prior $29.5 million financing
- Kaleido Biosciences in its most recent $101 million financing and prior $85 million financing
- Corvidia Therapeutics in its most recent $60 million financing and prior $26 million financing
- Quentis Therapeutics in its $48 million financing
- Moderna Therapeutics in its most recent $500 million and prior $474 million and $450 equity financings
- Semma Therapeutics in its most recent $114 million financing and prior $44 million financing
- Arrakis Therapeutics in its $38 million financing
- Cerevance in its $40 million plus funding and spin-out from Takeda Pharmaceutical for neuroscience
- Axcella Health in its approximately $80 million financing
- Medicxi Ventures in its approximately $22 million financing of Impact Biomedicines
- SetPoint Medical in its $100 plus million in financings
- Scholar Rock in its $47 million financing and earlier preferred stock financings
- Unum Therapeutics in its $65 million financing for its anti-body directed cellular immunotherapies
- Surface Oncology in its $35 million financing for cancer immunotherapies
- Aerpio Therapeutics in its $60 million financings for vascular disease therapies
Areas of Practice
Credentials
Education
JD1997
Harvard Law School
(magna cum laude)
PhDChemistry1993
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
BSChemistry1989
Yale University
(magna cum laude)
Clerkships
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, Honorable Raymond C. Clevenger
Admissions
Bars
- Massachusetts
Recognition & Awards
Kingsley has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America Best Lawyers for his work in Biotechnology and Life Sciences Practice and Corporate Law 2022-2023.
Kingsley has been recognized by numerous legal guides for legal and life sciences industry expertise. In addition to the three listings noted above, Kingsley has also been named as a leading business lawyer by Chambers USA (Life Sciences: Corporate/Commercial), Chambers Global, Chambers Massachusetts, U.S. News-Best Lawyers (Biotechnology Law), Chambers Global (Life Sciences:Corporate/Commercial), IFLR1000 (Pharmaceutical sector), LMG Life Sciences (Life Sciences Star), The Legal 500 United States (Healthcare: Life Sciences and Venture Capital and Emerging Companies), PLC Cross-border Life Sciences Handbook (Commercial and Partnering), named to the IAM Global Leaders Guide (2020), IAM Patent 1000 (Licensing), and The International Who’s Who of Life Sciences Lawyers (Transactional).
Publications
While attending law school, he first served as an editor and executive editor of the Harvard Law Review.