Life Sciences

  • November 20, 2024

    DEA Accused Of Colluding With Reform Foes In Pot Row

    Cannabis reform advocates have alleged that the Drug Enforcement Administration "stacked the deck" by colluding with anti-legalization interests and giving them improper opportunities to participate in upcoming hearings on a proposal to loosen federal restrictions on the drug.

  • November 20, 2024

    PBMs Sue To Block FTC's In-House Insulin Pricing Case

    Caremark Rx, Express Scripts and OptumRx have lodged a constitutional challenge of the Federal Trade Commission's in-house case accusing the pharmacy benefits managers of artificially inflating insulin prices through unfair rebate schemes.

  • November 20, 2024

    3 States To Challenge Abortion Regs After Docs Drop Claims

    Anti-abortion medical groups that were dealt a loss by the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year have now dropped out of their lawsuit challenging federal approvals for mifepristone, leaving Missouri, Idaho and Kansas to carry on litigation over the abortion medication.

  • November 20, 2024

    Beasley Allen And J&J Tussle Over Atty Sanctions Bid

    Beasley Allen Law Firm accused a Johnson & Johnson talc unit of using "deposition notices as weapons" in its quest to sanction a firm lawyer, while the company said the firm "refused to meaningfully subject itself or its members to any discovery" in its bankruptcy case.

  • November 20, 2024

    Weil Litigation Leaders Jump To Paul Weiss In NY

    The co-chair of Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP's global litigation department and the co-head of Weil's patent litigation practice will soon be joining Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP in New York, the latter firm announced Wednesday.

  • November 20, 2024

    MVP: Williams & Connolly's David I. Berl

    David I. Berl of Williams & Connolly LLP's patent litigation practice helped win a first-of-its-kind trial victory on behalf of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals by employing a novel legal strategy that allowed the biotech giant to quickly adjudicate its patent rights to an eye care medicine, earning him a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Life Sciences MVPs.

  • November 19, 2024

    Pfizer Unit Can't Get $75M Left In Insider Trading Deal Fund

    A New York federal judge Tuesday agreed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that roughly $75.2 million leftover in settlement funds should be transferred to the U.S. Treasury — not a Pfizer subsidiary — now that distribution of the $602 million insider trading deal has concluded.

  • November 19, 2024

    High Court Urged To Let Courts Scrutinize Agency Rulings

    District courts should be allowed to question rather than grant "absolute deference" to the Federal Communications Commission's interpretation of key statutory terms in the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, a chiropractic group contended Monday in calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to revive a junk fax class action.

  • November 19, 2024

    DC Circ. Wonders Where To Land On Terrorism Liability Claims

    Hypotheticals were flying Tuesday morning at the D.C. Circuit, where a three-judge panel spent more than two hours trying to figure out whether a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision means they need to stop the revival of a suit accusing pharmaceutical companies of funding terrorism in Iraq.

  • November 19, 2024

    Blood Vessel Maker Faces Investor Suit Over FDA Findings

    Biotechnology company Humacyte Inc. faces an investor's proposed class action alleging the company failed to disclose quality assurance issues at its manufacturing facilities that allegedly delayed regulatory review for its bioengineered blood vessel product candidate, leading to stock price declines.

  • November 19, 2024

    Costco Shoppers Say Kirkland Fish Oil Pills Hide Heart Risks

    Costco shoppers filed a putative false advertising class action in California federal court Monday accusing the big-box retailer of misleading consumers to believe its Kirkland brand of fish oil omega-3 supplements have heart health benefits, despite there being increased risks associated with fish oil, including atrial fibrillation.

  • November 19, 2024

    Calif. Biotech Firm Vera Taps Veteran Chief Legal Officer

    Biotechnology firm Vera Therapeutics is welcoming a new chief legal officer in advance of an anticipated biologics submission to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for a treatment targeting an autoimmune kidney disease.

  • November 19, 2024

    10th Circ. Iffy On Colo.'s Remedy To Generic EpiPen Takings

    A Tenth Circuit panel on Tuesday pressed Colorado regulators on whether requiring epinephrine auto-injector makers to repeatedly sue over the cost of complying with a state program provides an adequate legal remedy, with one judge saying that that route offers no finality for manufacturers.

  • November 19, 2024

    J&J Wants Beasley Allen Atty Sanctioned For Depo No-Show

    Johnson & Johnson's talc unit called on a Texas bankruptcy court to sanction a Beasley Allen Law Firm attorney for "unilaterally" deciding not to attend a scheduled deposition in the company's bankruptcy case.

  • November 19, 2024

    McGuireWoods Lands Health Ace, Former GC From Akin In NY

    A veteran healthcare and life sciences attorney who previously served as general counsel at pharmaceutical companies Novo Nordisk and Daiichi Sankyo has made the move from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP to McGuireWoods LLP.

  • November 19, 2024

    Akin Adds Another Healthcare Expert To DC Lobbying Team

    The former chief health adviser for the Senate Finance Committee's majority has joined Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP's lobbying team in Washington, D.C., weeks after the firm added another healthcare advocate from the national association representing pharmacy benefit managers.

  • November 19, 2024

    MVP: Covington's Catherine Dargan

    Catherine Dargan of Covington & Burling LLP represented Bristol Myers Squibb Co. in its $14 billion acquisition of the company that developed Cobenfy — the first new drug in 35 years to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration for treating schizophrenia — earning her a spot among the 2024 Law360 Life Sciences MVPs.

  • November 19, 2024

    McDermott Adds IP Pro From Gibson Dunn In Los Angeles

    McDermott Will & Emery LLP announced Tuesday that it has hired partner Timothy Best from Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP to help bolster its intellectual property practice group, especially its efforts serving life sciences and biotechnology clients.

  • November 18, 2024

    'You Stepped Over The Line': Judge Rips Quinn Emanuel Atty

    A California federal judge told a Quinn Emanuel partner defending Natera Inc. at trial Monday in Guardant Health Inc.'s false advertising case that she'd be sanctioned over her questioning of a Natera expert about Guardant's alleged damages, saying, "You stepped over the line, and you did it several times."

  • November 18, 2024

    J&J Posts $1.17B Bond For Del. Merger Milestone Appeal

    Johnson & Johnson Inc. has posted a $1.167 billion surety-backed bond ahead of its planned appeal challenging a Delaware Chancery Court's finding that it owes more than $1 billion to a medical robotics developer's former shareholders caught up in a post-acquisition dispute.

  • November 18, 2024

    Melinta Obtains Ban On Generic Antibiotic Injections In IP Row

    A drugmaker that recently sold a manufacturing facility to Eli Lilly for nearly $1 billion has failed to persuade a federal judge in Chicago to wipe out patents covering a line of injections that treat infections developed by a recently bankrupt antibiotic developer.

  • November 18, 2024

    Pa. Lab Seeks Ad Coverage For Libel Suit Over COVID Tests

    A Pennsylvania laboratory told a federal court Monday that its insurer must cover it in an underlying lawsuit brought by a COVID-19 test manufacturer in which the manufacturer alleged that the lab sent 19,000 letters to test kit users wrongfully stating that the tests were unreliable.

  • November 18, 2024

    $100M Deal In Suit Over Walgreens Rx Prices Gets First OK

    An Illinois federal judge gave an initial blessing Monday to a $100 million deal resolving claims from consumers and unions that Walgreens unlawfully overcharged insured consumers for prescription drugs while allowing members of its cost savings club to pay less.

  • November 18, 2024

    Medical Group Wants Justices To Review IP Safe Harbor Fight

    A medical device trade group has said the U.S. Supreme Court should take up an appeal of a Federal Circuit decision Edwards Lifesciences said broadened a drug-development safe harbor to avoid patent infringement, saying the circuit court misread the provision.

  • November 18, 2024

    Biopharm Co. Seelos Files For Ch. 11 After Nasdaq Delisting

    Publicly traded biopharmaceutical company Seelos Therapeutics Inc. sought Chapter 11 protection in New York on Saturday, citing between $10 million and $50 million in estimated liabilities.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    After Chevron: Slowing Down AI In Medical Research

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision overturning the Chevron doctrine may inhibit agencies' regulatory efforts, potentially slowing down the approval and implementation of artificial intelligence-driven methodologies in medical research, as well as regulators' responses to public health emergencies, say Ragini Acharya and Matthew Deutsch at Husch Blackwell.

  • Series

    Being A Luthier Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    When I’m not working as an appellate lawyer, I spend my spare time building guitars — a craft known as luthiery — which has helped to enhance the discipline, patience and resilience needed to write better briefs, says Rob Carty at Nichols Brar.

  • FDA's Multifaceted Role On Display In MDMA Therapy Scrutiny

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    Ongoing deliberations at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regarding MDMA-assisted therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder serves as a window into the intricate balance of scientific innovation and patient safety oversight, and offers crucial insights into regulatory nuances, say Kimberly Chew at Husch Blackwell and Kevin Lanzo at Pharmaka Clinical Consulting.

  • Lead Like 'Ted Lasso' By Embracing Cognitive Diversity

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    The Apple TV+ series “Ted Lasso” aptly illustrates how embracing cognitive diversity can be a winning strategy for teams, providing a useful lesson for law firms, which can benefit significantly from fresh, diverse perspectives and collaborative problem-solving, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.

  • How Cos. Should Handle Research Org.'s Carcinogen Evals

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    In light of the International Agency of Research for Cancer's list of substances slated for review over the next five years, manufacturers of chemicals, pharmaceuticals and consumer products should monitor for potentially unbalanced determinations, which could stimulate litigation regarding potential exposure from products, say attorneys at Nelson Mullins.

  • Analyzing FDA Draft Guidance On Clinical Trial Diversity

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    In light of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's draft guidance on clinical trial diversity action plans, there are several important considerations for sponsors and clinical researchers to keep in mind to prevent delay in a drug or device application, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • What's New In The AI Healthcare Regulatory Space

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    Attorneys at Hogan Lovells review the current legal and regulatory landscape for artificial intelligence applications in healthcare, touching on policies around safety, transparency, nondiscrimination and reimbursement, and what to expect in the future.

  • Del. Dispatch: 27.6% Stockholder Not A Controller

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    The Delaware Court of Chancery's recent decision in Sciannella v. AstraZeneca — which found that the pharma giant, a 26.7% stockholder of Viela Bio Inc., was not a controller of Viela, despite having management control — shows that overall context matters when challenging transactions on breach of fiduciary duty grounds, say attorneys at Fried Frank.

  • 3 Policyholder Tips After Calif. Ruling Denying D&O Coverage

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    A California decision from June, Practice Fusion v. Freedom Specialty Insurance, denying a company's claim seeking reimbursement under a directors and officers insurance policy for its settlement with the Justice Department, highlights the importance of coordinating coverage for all operational risks and the danger of broad exclusionary policy language, says Geoffrey Fehling at Hunton.

  • 1 Year At The UPC: Implications For Transatlantic Disputes

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    In its first year, the Unified Patent Court has issued important decisions on procedures like provisional measures, but complexities remain when it comes to coordinating proceedings across jurisdictions like the U.S. due to differences in timelines and discovery practices, say attorneys at McDermott.

  • Opinion

    Now More Than Ever, Lawyers Must Exhibit Professionalism

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    As society becomes increasingly fractured and workplace incivility is on the rise, attorneys must champion professionalism and lead by example, demonstrating how lawyers can respectfully disagree without being disagreeable, says Edward Casmere at Norton Rose.

  • Opinion

    High Court Made Profound Mistake In Tossing Purdue Deal

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to throw out Purdue Pharma's Chapter 11 plan jeopardizes a multistate agreement that would provide approximately $7 billion in much-needed relief to help fight the opioid epidemic, with states now likely doomed to spend years chasing individual defendants across the globe, says Swain Wood at Morningstar.

  • Series

    Serving In The National Guard Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My ongoing military experience as a judge advocate general in the National Guard has shaped me as a person and a lawyer, teaching me the importance of embracing confidence, balance and teamwork in both my Army and civilian roles, says Danielle Aymond at Baker Donelson.

  • Big Business May Come To Rue The Post-Administrative State

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    Many have framed the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decisions overturning Chevron deference and extending the window to challenge regulations as big wins for big business, but sand in the gears of agency rulemaking may be a double-edged sword, creating prolonged uncertainty that impedes businesses’ ability to plan for the future, says Todd Baker at Columbia University.

  • Opinion

    Proposed Terminal Disclaimers Rule Harms Colleges, Startups

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    Universities and startups are ill-suited to follow the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s recently proposed rule on terminal disclaimers due to their necessity of filing patent applications early prior to contacting outside entities for funds and resources, say attorneys at Sterne Kessler.

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