Life Sciences

  • January 10, 2025

    BCLP's Global Healthcare Chair Jumps To Dechert

    Dechert LLP has brought on the former global chair of healthcare and life sciences at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP as a corporate and securities partner and leader of its healthcare regulatory practice.

  • January 09, 2025

    'Stunned': Judge Rips Atty For Violating Antitrust Trial Order

    A California federal judge overseeing an antitrust jury trial over claims that Intuitive Surgical was a monopolist that abused its power by blocking hospitals from using a service to extend the life of a component related to its surgical-robot arms said Thursday she was "stunned" when plaintiff Surgical Instrument Service showed a video that violated a pretrial order.

  • January 09, 2025

    Catalyst Settles Patent Fight Against Teva Over Firdapse

    Florida-based Catalyst Pharmaceuticals Inc. has reached a settlement with Teva in a patent infringement battle in New Jersey federal court over its U.S. flagship commercial drug that treats a rare autoimmune disease that will provide Teva with a license to market a generic version of the drug in 2035, the company announced Thursday.

  • January 09, 2025

    IP Forecast: OpenAI, Microsoft Look To Toss NYT Case

    OpenAI and its backers at Microsoft will try persuading a New York judge to dismiss one of the major copyright suits against them, with arguments that using news stories to train the startup's artificial intelligence model is a "transformative" use. Here's a spotlight on where that case stands — plus all the other major intellectual property matters on deck in the coming week.

  • January 09, 2025

    Amgen Says Enbrel Protected By Legit Patents, Rulings

    Amgen has asked a Virginia federal judge to permanently toss the latest version of a proposed class action accusing it of illegally entrenching and expanding patent rights to stave off cheaper competition for Enbrel, arguing the blockbuster arthritis treatment is protected by legitimate patents and court rulings of validity.

  • January 09, 2025

    Kroger Accused By Calif. AG Of Ignoring Opioid 'Red Flags'

    California's attorney general has accused The Kroger Co. of ignoring "red flags" of opioid misuse, alleging in a lawsuit lodged in a Los Angeles state court that the supermarket giant dispensed opioids without first questioning the legitimacy of prescriptions.

  • January 09, 2025

    Pharma Co. Says Ex-CEO's Bias Allegations Come Up Short

    Canadian biopharmaceutical company FSD Pharma Inc. is urging the Third Circuit to affirm the enforcement of a $2 million arbitral award against its ex-CEO, arguing Wednesday that the former executive's allegations of bias against the arbitrator have already been rejected.

  • January 09, 2025

    Cancer Org Fails To Get Rival's TM Counterclaims Tossed

    A Georgia federal judge said Thursday that the Glioblastoma Foundation Inc. can't yet escape a series of counterclaims filed against it by a rival nonprofit amid a trademark spat, ruling that its defenses in a dismissal bid largely relied on factual issues about whether the rival fraudulently obtained the marks at issue.

  • January 09, 2025

    J&J Spin-Off Says Talc Committee Can't Hire Brown Rudnick

    Johnson & Johnson's bankrupt spin-off called Brown Rudnick's bid to represent an official committee of talc claimants "an ethical violation," telling a Texas bankruptcy judge that the law firm's previous work for a group trying to toss the case clashes with the committee's support for its Chapter 11 plan.

  • January 09, 2025

    New Mexico Justices Say Local Gov'ts Can't Restrict Abortion

    New Mexico's highest court on Thursday struck down four local ordinances that restricted abortion access in the state, chastising the cities and counties behind them for running afoul of state laws on reproductive health and medical licensing.

  • January 09, 2025

    Stem Cell Therapy Co. Hit With $5.1M Deceptive Ad Judgment

    A Georgia federal judge has ordered a stem cell therapy company and its co-founders to pay the state $5.1 million for falsely marketing its product as a cure-all miracle treatment for a slew of different medical conditions.

  • January 09, 2025

    Ropes & Gray Reps Valspring Capital On Debut $255M Fund

    Ropes & Gray LLP-advised healthcare-focused growth equity firm Valspring Capital on Thursday announced that it closed its debut fund, Valspring Capital Fund I, above target after securing $255 million in investor commitments.

  • January 09, 2025

    Ropes & Gray-Led Vistria Wraps Largest-Ever Fund At $3B

    Middle-market private equity shop The Vistria Group LP, advised by Ropes & Gray LLP, on Thursday said it clinched its largest-ever private equity fund after securing $3 billion of total investor commitments.

  • January 09, 2025

    Embryo Loss Suits Against CooperSurgical Mount In Conn.

    CooperSurgical Inc. now faces four lawsuits in Connecticut that allege a defective product caused the loss of embryos conceived through in vitro fertilization, after a Georgia couple added their case to a growing pile of litigation.

  • January 08, 2025

    Intuitive Killed Biz For Reusing Robo-Surgery Arms, Jury Told

    The president of a family-owned medical instrument repair business suing biotechnology company Intuitive Surgical on antitrust claims told a California federal jury Wednesday that his company saw a "huge opportunity" in providing a service that extended the life of Intuitive's surgical robot arms, but hospitals balked after Intuitive sent threatening letters.

  • January 08, 2025

    Meta, Microsoft, Google Seek To Toss DNA Data-Sharing Suit

    DNA-testing platform Nebula Genomics, Meta Platforms, Microsoft and Google urged a Chicago federal judge to toss a putative class action accusing the companies of surreptitiously misusing customers' genetic data through tracking software on Nebula's website, arguing that the complaint lacks specifics tying the defendants to alleged wrongdoing.

  • January 08, 2025

    UnitedHealth Wants $3.3B Amedisys Deal Challenge Tossed

    UnitedHealth Group and Amedisys Inc. asked a Maryland federal court Wednesday to toss a challenge of their planned $3.3 billion merger, contending that federal and state enforcers are refusing to say what "local" home health and hospice service markets would be hurt by the deal.

  • January 08, 2025

    Patent Board Knocks Out Most Of Apple Patent

    Two rulings out of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board have wiped out several claims in a patent Apple is asserting against a medical software company that was initially first to assert patents against Apple over health-related programming in the Apple Watch.

  • January 08, 2025

    USTR Warns Of Risks Posed By Counterfeit Pharmacies

    The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on Wednesday released its latest list of overseas "notorious markets" selling illicit and counterfeit goods, pointing in particular to a boom in counterfeit online pharmacies selling knock-off medications that pose a risk both to public health and businesses' intellectual property interests.

  • January 08, 2025

    Biotech Co.'s Facility Failures Lost Investors Money, Suit Says

    The executives and directors of biotechnology company Humacyte Inc. have been hit with a shareholder derivative suit in North Carolina federal court alleging the company concealed that its manufacturing facility failed to comply with certain quality assurance practices, leading to delayed regulatory review for its product candidate.

  • January 08, 2025

    EPA Slams $535M Talc Settlement In Whittaker's Ch. 11

    The U.S. government objected to a $535 million settlement that bankrupt talc supplier Whittaker Clark & Daniels reached regarding talc claims in its New Jersey Chapter 11 case, saying the deal was built on faulty estimates of the company's environmental liabilities.

  • January 08, 2025

    3 Firms Steer Galapagos' Plan To Spin Off New Drug Company

    Belgian biotechnology firm Galapagos NV said Wednesday that it will spin off certain operations into a second company focused on developing innovative medicines with about €2.45 billion ($2.5 billion) in cash to start, while Galapagos in turn focuses on cell therapies, through a deal guided by three law firms.

  • January 08, 2025

    Ex-Marketing Exec Says J&J Unit Dodging Basic Discovery

    An ex-marketing director for Johnson & Johnson's vision unit urged a New Jersey federal judge to order her former employer to produce documents related to its suit alleging she breached a noncompete agreement, arguing its stonewalling of discovery is depriving her of a fair chance to defend herself.

  • January 08, 2025

    Buchanan Ingersoll Adds Frier Levitt Pharmacy Atty In NJ

    Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC added a shareholder this week in its Newark, New Jersey, office from Frier Levitt who specializes in representing various kinds of pharmacies in transactions, litigation, investigations and other matters.

  • January 08, 2025

    FBI Director's Former Chief Of Staff Joins Fenwick

    Weeks after FBI Director Christopher Wray announced that he'll resign at the end of President Joe Biden's term, Fenwick & West LLP said Wednesday that it has hired the FBI director's chief of staff, who joined the team as a white collar defense and investigations partner.

Expert Analysis

  • Firms Still Have The Edge In Lateral Hiring, But Buyer Beware

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    Partner mobility data suggests that the third quarter of this year continued to be a buyer’s market, with the average candidate demanding less compensation for a larger book of business — but moving into the fourth quarter, firms should slow down their hiring process to minimize risks, say officers at Decipher Investigative Intelligence.

  • What 2024 Election Means For Drugs, Medicare And Medicaid

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    With Republicans running the White House, U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, the incoming administration is likely to provide pathways — through new initiatives and others returning from Trump's previous presidency — for a range of potential changes to drug pricing, Medicare and Medicaid, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: 1 Type Of Case Complexity Stands Out

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    In contrast to some cases that appear complex due to voluminous evidence or esoteric subject matter, a different kind of complexity involves tangled legal and factual questions, each with a range of possible outcomes, which require a “sliding scale” approach instead of syllogistic reasoning, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • What Bisphenol S Prop 65 Listing Will Mean For Industry

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    The imminent addition of bisphenol S — a chemical used in millions of products — to California's Proposition 65 list will have sweeping compliance and litigation implications for companies in the retail, food and beverage, paper, manufacturing and personal care product industries, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • Fed. Circ. Ruling Shows Importance Of Trial Expert Specificity

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    The Federal Circuit’s recent ruling in NexStep v. Comcast highlights how even a persuasive expert’s failure to fully explain the basis of their opinion at trial can turn a winning patent infringement argument into a losing one, say attorneys at Barnes & Thornburg.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Note 3 Simple Types Of Legal Complexity

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    Cases can appear complex for several reasons — due to the number of issues, the volume of factual and evidentiary sources, and the sophistication of those sources — but the same basic technique can help lawyers tame their arguments into a simple and persuasive message, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Justices Mull Sex-Based Classification In Trans Law Case

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in U.S. v. Skrmetti this week, it appears that the fate of the Tennessee law at the center of the case — a law banning gender-affirming healthcare for transgender adolescents — will hinge on whether the majority read the statute as imposing a sex-based classification, says Alexandra Crandall at Dickinson Wright.

  • Series

    Gardening Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Beyond its practical and therapeutic benefits, gardening has bolstered important attributes that also apply to my litigation practice, including persistence, patience, grit and authenticity, says Christopher Viceconte at Gibbons.

  • Litigation Inspiration: Reframing Document Review

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    For attorneys — new ones especially — there is much fulfillment to find in document review by reflecting on how important, interesting and pleasant it can be, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • Key Takeaways From FDA's Latest Social Media Warnings

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    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's latest untitled letter concerning a drug company's social media promotion provides lessons for how companies should navigate risk presentation, FDA labeling requirements and superiority claims, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Expect More State Scrutiny Of PE In Healthcare M&A

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    While a California bill that called for increased antitrust scrutiny of many healthcare private equity transactions was recently vetoed by the governor, state legislatures are likely to continue introducing similar laws, particularly if the Trump administration eases federal enforcement, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Declaring Unexpected Results: Pitfalls For Rule 132 At PTAB

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    Rule 132 declarations are frequently used in life sciences patent prosecution for rebutting obviousness rejections by establishing that an applicant's invention produces unexpected results, and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's Eidschun ruling highlights when this important tool may be ineffective, say attorneys at Morrison Foerster.

  • IP Ruling Likely To Limit Arguments Against Qualified Experts

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    The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Osseo v. Planmeca, clarifying when experts may offer testimony from the perspective of a skilled artisan, provides helpful guidance on expert qualifications and could quash future timing arguments regarding declarants' expertise, says Whitney Jenkins at Marshall Gerstein.

  • How Boards And Officers Should Prep For New Trump Admin

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    In anticipation of President-elect Donald Trump's proposed tariffs and mass deportation campaign, company officers and board members should pursue proactive, comprehensive contingency planning to not only advance the best interests of the companies they serve, but to also properly exercise their fiduciary duty of care, say attorneys at Winston & Strawn.

  • Dissecting The Obviousness-Type Double Patenting Debate

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    The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Allergan v. MSN highlights the ongoing evolution of the obviousness-type double patenting doctrine, revealing increasing tension between expiration-based interpretations and procedural flexibility, says Jeremy Lowe at Leydig Voit.

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