Moreover, Baker McKenzie has added leading FDA regulatory lawyer Xin Tao as a partner in Washington, DC, joining the firm’s growing food and drug regulatory team, and bringing scientific background, deep experience in food technology and East Asia. For more than a decade, Tao has advised companies on how to navigate evolving regulatory environments with innovative legal strategies that support their commercialization of consumer products made with emerging technologies. His practice focuses on novel food and drug applications that require FDA review and FDA Current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) compliance. Tao has extensive experience advising food technology companies and investors on developing and marketing innovative products, including cell-cultured meat protein derived from microbial fermentation and bioengineering. A former research biochemist, he brings a deep understanding of the complex scientific issues that relate to the FDA’s legal and regulatory requirements, enabling him to help clients with all phases of product development, manufacturing and marketing. Leveraging his scientific background, he has also worked extensively on FDA enforcement actions and consumer class action litigations involving environmental contaminants in foods, such as heavy metals, PFAS, and California’s Proposition 65- listed chemicals. Born and raised in China, Tao is also well-equipped to assist global companies in adapting to the evolving regulatory regime of China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA), formerly known as China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA). In addition to US-based clients, he has also worked extensively with Chinese and Japanese food and pharmaceutical companies. He earned his BS in Biotechnology from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, his MS in Biochemistry from Texas A&M, and his JD from Georgetown University Law Center.