Existing relationship gave Robertson in-depth view of the growing company
When Stephen Robertson joined Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in 2020 he was already very familiar with the Victoria, B.C.-based company, having helped the founders to set it up from his previous role as external counsel partner with Borden Ladner Gervais LLP. Continuing his relationship as external counsel, Robertson went on to work with Aurinia on a variety of transactions including a US$191.7m financing. From his external counsel position, he even took on the role of corporate secretary, which gave him an in-depth view of the growing company.
“I saw this company and its team grow from its formation, through some pivotal clinical trials,” says Robertson. “Over the years I really got to know the team really well, and I went to board meetings and company events, which is not typical for external counsel, but it was an amazing, eye-opening experience.”
Aurinia – which delivers therapeutics to patients with autoimmune diseases – was granted FDA approval in January 2021 for a drug product for the treatment of Lupus Nephritis, and has since added two new drug product candidates. Robertson was inspired by the passion of the team at Aurinia to help patients, so when the opportunity arose in November 2020 to move in-house as executive vice-president, general counsel, corporate secretary and chief compliance officer, he was quick to accept.
“Instead of being on the outside looking in, I was able to jump on board and be a part of that team. The opportunity was far too great to pass up,” he says.
In addition to managing the core legal function, Robertson takes responsibility for the contract drafting and review process. He also manages intellectual property and day to day legal advice, including counsel with the executive team. On the compliance side, he manages training, monitoring and guidance around internal rules. He also takes care of board-related matters in his corporate secretary role.
Each member of the eight-person legal team at Aurinia is partnered with a particular function or business arm within the company, to help provide better support.
“I have found that having a dedicated partner within our legal and compliance group helps us provide a more consistent level of support by being more specialized and honing our expertise in terms of what we can do to partner with the business,” says Robertson.
To further improve efficiencies within his department, Robertson is working on migrating from a rudimentary contract management system to a new contract lifestyle management solution. The new system will improve transparency in the contracting process, and it will give business partners better access to existing agreements for reference purposes.
“This was a huge cross-functional undertaking led by legal, that also involves our procurement team and our finance teams,” says Robertson. “I think it will really set both the legal function and the business up well for future collaboration with the rest of the company.”
Robertson and his team are focused on supporting the business as partners in a way that does not stifle creativity.
“We see ourselves as guides to help them navigate from where they are to their interstate destination. We’re all working towards the same goal, which is to find a way to get a drug that can really help patients,” he says.
Environmental, social and governance matters are also top of mind in 2022, as ESG becomes an increasingly important consideration for investors. The lack of a definitive reporting framework for the regulatory authorities has presented challenges, Robertson says, so he looks forward to documenting the ESG work his team is doing in a more concise manner.
As Aurinia grows, the legal and compliance team continues to strengthen its connections with business partners and reinforce existing bonds to improve the level of service and responsiveness.
With this in mind, Robertson wants to change the perception that the legal department only speaks up when there is a concern, and instead build active, ongoing conversations with all business teams.
“By reinforcing those existing bonds, we will hopefully get more insights into what the business needs, and get active feedback as to how we can help them,” he says.
