Life Sciences

  • October 16, 2024

    Apple Heart Rate Monitor Patent Survives PTAB

    An administrative patent board has decided not to invalidate an Apple patent that the tech giant once asserted in its ongoing fight with a company in the smartwatch space.

  • October 16, 2024

    Direct Buyers Get Final OK For $44M Drug Price-Fixing Deal

    A Pennsylvania federal court has granted final approval to $44.4 million in settlements between drugmakers Apotex, Breckenridge and Heritage and direct purchasers in a multidistrict litigation over alleged price-fixing in the generic-drug industry.

  • October 16, 2024

    Pharma Co. Contractor Settles SEC Insider Trading Claim

    An information technology consultant for a Massachusetts biopharmaceutical company will pay the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over $28,000 to resolve claims he immediately dumped shares of his client when he got wind of its yet-to-be announced plans for major layoffs.

  • October 16, 2024

    Ex-Pharma Co. Employee Traded On GSK Deal Info, SEC Says

    The former director of analytical development at Canada-based drug company Bellus Health Inc. has agreed to pay the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over $120,000 to settle claims that he sold shares on nonpublic information about pharma giant GSK's impending takeover of his company, according to court filings.

  • October 16, 2024

    SEC To Settle Claims CBD Exec Took $13M From Hospital

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is ready to make a deal with a former cannabidiol products executive accused of taking $13 million from a hospital after falsely promising to deliver urgently needed masks during the height of the pandemic.

  • October 16, 2024

    Caremark, Optum Say FTC Insulin Case Gets PBMs All Wrong

    Caremark Rx, Express Scripts and OptumRx continue to attack the Federal Trade Commission's in-house case accusing the country's three largest pharmacy benefit managers of artificially inflating insulin prices by relying on unfair rebate schemes, arguing the agency's case lacks authority, facts and the right targets.

  • October 16, 2024

    Houston Pharma Exec Found Guilty In $160M Health Fraud

    A Houston man was convicted on 15 criminal charges in connection with orchestrating a massive healthcare scheme that defrauded the government out of $160 million, following a 10-day trial in which prosecutors said doctors were "bamboozled" by the conspiracy.

  • October 16, 2024

    AAM, Alvogen Back Sun Pharma In Double Patenting Row

    A trade group representing generic-drug makers, a generic-drug company and a plant-breeding technology business have all thrown their support behind Sun Pharmaceutical Industries' bid for the full Federal Circuit to take a closer look at the issue of double patenting.

  • October 16, 2024

    M&A Pros Cautious About Expected Private Equity Surge

    It's an oft-repeated line that private equity activity is set to surge amid pressure to exit older investments and deploy record stores of dry powder, but mergers and acquisitions professionals recently surveyed by Dykema were cautious when asked if they expect private equity to boost deal flow in the next 12 months, with a majority saying they only "somewhat agree." 

  • October 15, 2024

    Horizon Lodges 4-Fold Attack On Tepezza MDL Bellwethers

    Horizon Therapeutics argued Tuesday that an Illinois federal judge should toss out nine of the dozen cases selected as bellwethers in multidistrict litigation targeting hearing loss issues with its biologic Tepezza, saying they're preempted because the label was approved with those problems in mind.

  • October 15, 2024

    Judge Backs Exelixis Cancer Drug Patent Claims

    A Delaware federal judge on Tuesday rejected invalidity arguments against three Exelixis patents that MSN Laboratories Private Ltd. said it would be infringing with a proposed generic of blockbuster drug Cabometyx, while also finding that a fourth patent wasn't invalid nor was it infringed.

  • October 15, 2024

    Motley Rice May Avoid DQ In Boston Opioid Case, Judge Hints

    A Massachusetts federal judge on Tuesday appeared skeptical of a bid by pharmacy benefit manager OptumRX to disqualify Motley Rice LLC from representing the city of Boston in a lawsuit over the company's alleged role in the opioid crisis.

  • October 15, 2024

    GSK Says Moderna's COVID, RSV Vax Infringe MRNA Patents

    Moderna's breakthrough COVID-19 vaccine and a related respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, vaccine were built on mRNA technology discovered by researchers whose patents are owned by GlaxoSmithKline, the latter company alleged in a pair of Delaware lawsuits.

  • October 15, 2024

    Justices Mull RICO's Scope In Trucker's CBD Case

    U.S. Supreme Court justices on Tuesday appeared conflicted whether to sanction a commercial trucker's attempt to bring a racketeering claim against CBD companies, whose allegedly mislabeled products the trucker claims led to his firing.

  • October 15, 2024

    Walmart, Execs Settle Chancery Opioid Suit For $123M

    Walmart and its directors and officers have agreed to a $123 million deal to end a stockholder class derivative lawsuit in Delaware's Court of Chancery that accused the nationwide retailer of multiyear opioid prescription oversight failures, potentially resolving class claims dating to early 2020.

  • October 15, 2024

    Novartis To Appeal Ruling In Entresto Generic Drug Fight

    Swiss drugmaker Novartis said Tuesday that it plans to appeal a ruling from over the weekend that scuttled its suit over the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's approval of a generic version of Entresto, the drugmaker's blockbuster heart failure medication.

  • October 15, 2024

    Feds Cut Whistleblowers Out Of Kickback Deal, Court Told

    Whistleblowers who accused a medical device company of a kickback scheme said Tuesday that the government left them out to dry when it settled False Claims Act claims with surgeons for $3.3 million and refused to share any of it with them.

  • October 15, 2024

    Skadden Picks Up Arbitration Co-Head From Sidley In Asia

    The co-leader of Sidley Austin LLP's global arbitration, trade and advocacy group has been tapped to lead Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP's international litigation and arbitration group in Asia, the firm announced on Monday.

  • October 15, 2024

    Law Firms Diverge As Anti-ESG Pushback Continues

    A continuing onslaught of legislation and litigation opposing corporate environmental, social and governance actions has created a fork in the road for law firms, with some choosing to scale back efforts and others pushing ahead with their internal ESG and diversity, equity and inclusion goals.

  • October 15, 2024

    The 2024 Law360 Pulse Social Impact Leaders

    Check out our Social Impact Leaders ranking, analysis and interactive graphics to see which firms stand out for their engagement with social responsibility and commitment to pro bono service.

  • October 15, 2024

    Ill. Home Health Kickbacks Ruling Intact After Justices Pass

    The nation's top court said Tuesday it won't review a Seventh Circuit decision largely affirming that a home health care company broke federal kickback laws, leaving intact its holding that the company must pay millions in damages.

  • October 14, 2024

    Baker McKenzie Leads Lundbeck's $2.6B Deal For US Pharma

    Lundbeck said Monday that it has agreed to buy Longboard, a U.S. biopharmaceutical business, for $2.6 billion in cash as the Danish drug giant aims to capture a drug with "blockbuster potential" to treat a rare form of epilepsy.

  • October 11, 2024

    Pharmacist Gets Up To 15 Years In Mich. For Fatal Outbreak

    A pharmacist charged for the deaths in a 2012 fatal fungal meningitis outbreak was sentenced Friday afternoon in Michigan state court to 7½ to 15 years in prison, concluding the state's case that had been pending for six years, the pharmacist's attorney has announced.

  • October 11, 2024

    High Court's TCPA Grant Set To Broaden Loper Bright's Blow

    On the heels of the U.S. Supreme Court dealing a major blow to the power of federal agencies to interpret laws, the justices are poised to again boost judicial authority and potentially release a torrent of litigation challenging the established tome of regulations crafted under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

  • October 11, 2024

    Apotex Accused Of Infringing Novo Nordisk Diabetes Drug

    The largest producer of generic drugs in Canada is infringing U.S. patents for Rybelsus, a medication for people with Type 2 diabetes that also is used for weight loss, drugmaker Novo Nordisk Inc. claimed in a federal lawsuit. 

Expert Analysis

  • A Look At Acquisition Trends For Radiopharmaceuticals

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    As radiopharmaceutical drugs are increasingly used for the diagnosis and treatment of certain diseases, interest from Big Pharma entities is following suit, despite some questions around the drugs' capacity to expand beyond their limited niche, says Adrian Toutoungi at Taylor Wessing.

  • Opinion

    States Should Loosen Law Firm Ownership Restrictions

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    Despite growing buzz, normalized nonlawyer ownership of law firms is a distant prospect, so the legal community should focus first on liberalizing state restrictions on attorney and firm purchases of practices, which would bolster succession planning and improve access to justice, says Michael Di Gennaro at The Law Practice Exchange.

  • Navigating FDA Supply Rule Leeway For Small Dispensers

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    As the November compliance deadline for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's new pharmaceutical distribution supply chain rules draws closer, small dispensers should understand the narrow flexibilities that are available, and the questions to consider before taking advantage of them, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

  • Series

    Solving Puzzles Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Tackling daily puzzles — like Wordle, KenKen and Connections — has bolstered my intellectual property litigation practice by helping me to exercise different mental skills, acknowledge minor but important details, and build and reinforce good habits, says Roy Wepner at Kaplan Breyer.

  • Texas Ethics Opinion Flags Hazards Of Unauthorized Practice

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    The Texas Professional Ethics Committee's recently issued proposed opinion finding that in-house counsel providing legal services to the company's clients constitutes the unauthorized practice of law is a valuable clarification given that a UPL violation — a misdemeanor in most states — carries high stakes, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Julienne Pasichow at HWG.

  • 6 Lessons From DOJ's 1st Controlled Drug Case In Telehealth

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    Following the U.S. Department of Justice’s first-ever criminal prosecution over telehealth-prescribed controlled substances in U.S. v. Ruthia He, healthcare providers should be mindful of the risks associated with restricting the physician-patient relationship when crafting new business models, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Scale Tips Favor Away From HHS Agencies

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    The loss of Chevron deference may indirectly aid parties in challenging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' interpretations of regulations and could immediately influence several pending cases challenging HHS on technical questions and agency authority, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • 2 Options For Sackler Family After High Court Purdue Ruling

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court recently blocked Purdue Pharma's plan to shield the family that owns the company from bankruptcy lawsuits, the Sacklers face the choice to either continue litigation, or return to the bargaining table for a settlement that doesn't eliminate creditor claims, says Gregory Germain at Syracuse University.

  • In Memoriam: The Modern Administrative State

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    On June 28, the modern administrative state, where courts deferred to agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes, died when the U.S. Supreme Court overruled its previous decision in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council — but it is survived by many cases decided under the Chevron framework, say Joseph Schaeffer and Jessica Deyoe at Babst Calland.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Expect Limited Changes In USPTO Rulemaking

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling overturning Chevron deference will have limited consequences for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office given the USPTO's unique statutory features, but it is still an important decision for matters of statutory interpretation, especially those involving provisions of the America Invents Act, say Andrei Iancu and Cooper Godfrey at Sullivan & Cromwell.

  • How High Court Approached Time Limit On Reg Challenges

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Corner Post v. Federal Reserve Board effectively gives new entities their own personal statute of limitations to challenge rules and regulations, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh's concurrence may portend the court's view that those entities do not need to be directly regulated, say attorneys at Snell & Wilmer.

  • Fed. Circ. Skinny Label Ruling Guides On Infringement Claims

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    The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Amarin v. Hikma shows generic drug manufacturers must pay close attention to the statements in their abbreviated new drug application labels to put themselves in the best position in defending against an induced infringement claim, say Luke Shannon and Roshan Shrestha at Taft Stettinius.

  • 4 Takeaways From Biotech Patent Invalidity Ruling

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    The recent Patents Court decision in litigation between Advanced Cell Diagnostics and Molecular Instruments offers noteworthy commentary on issues related to experiments done in the ordinary course of business, joint importation, common general knowledge and mindset, and mosaicking for anticipation, say Nessa Khandaker and Darren Jiron at Finnegan.

  • How To Clean Up Your Generative AI-Produced Legal Drafts

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    As law firms increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence tools to produce legal text, attorneys should be on guard for the overuse of cohesive devices in initial drafts, and consider a few editing pointers to clean up AI’s repetitive and choppy outputs, says Ivy Grey at WordRake.

  • Calif. Ruling Heightens Medical Product Maker Liability

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    The California Supreme Court's decision in Himes v. Somatics last month articulates a new causation standard for medical product manufacturer liability that may lead to stronger product disclosures nationwide and greater friction between manufacturers and physicians, say attorneys at Cooley.

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