Background

When Swarm Oncology, an R&D company within Delin Ventures, engaged us, they were in the early stages of building a business focused on developing cell therapies for metastatic cancer. Their model depended on collaboration with third parties, including academic institutions and specialist service providers.

However, they did not yet have the legal infrastructure required to support these relationships. The absence of standardised agreements created both legal risk and practical barriers to progressing research and development activities. They needed a framework that would allow them to engage partners efficiently while protecting their intellectual property and meeting regulatory expectations.

The LS Law Approach

We approached this by establishing a structured legal foundation that could support both immediate transactions and future growth. Our objective was to provide Swarm Oncology with a consistent and reliable set of tools for engaging third parties.

We developed a suite of template agreements tailored to their operating model. This included confidentiality agreements, master service agreements, consultancy agreements, licensing agreements, and material transfer agreements. Each document was designed to address the specific risks associated with life sciences research, including the handling of sensitive data, intellectual property ownership, and regulatory considerations.

Alongside this, we supported the negotiation of their first Collaborative Research and Development Agreement with a leading academic institution. This required careful alignment of commercial objectives with academic expectations, as well as clear provisions around intellectual property and the use of research outputs. We also advised on a supplementary material transfer agreement to ensure appropriate legal coverage for the use of human tissue samples.

Throughout, we worked closely with the team to ensure that the agreements were practical to use and could be deployed efficiently as new opportunities arose.

The Outcome

Swarm Oncology established a coherent and scalable legal framework for engaging third parties.

The availability of tailored template agreements reduced the time and complexity involved in entering into new relationships, allowing the business to move forward with greater speed and consistency. At the same time, key legal risks, particularly around intellectual property and regulatory compliance, were addressed in a structured way.

The successful negotiation of their first major collaboration agreement marked an important step in their development, enabling them to formalise a strategic partnership with an academic institution. The legal framework we put in place continues to support ongoing and future collaborations as their research progresses.