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Life Sciences
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May 16, 2024
FTC Deputy Director Rao On Healthcare Antitrust Agenda
The reason behind the Federal Trade Commission's changed attitude toward antitrust in healthcare in recent years isn't simple, according to Rahul Rao, deputy director of the FTC's Bureau of Competition.
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May 16, 2024
NJ Judge Scrutinizes J&J Unit's Libel Claim Over Talc Study
A bankrupt Johnson & Johnson unit's libel claims over a scientific article linking talcum powder to mesothelioma intrigued a New Jersey federal judge during an oral argument on Thursday, prompting her to muse that the author's consideration of other exposures seemed to bolster the study at issue.
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May 16, 2024
IQVIA To Pay $3.5M To Resolve Ex-Workers' 401(k) Suit
Healthcare technology company IQVIA agreed to pay $3.5 million to end a 9,000-member class action accusing it of choosing investments that consistently underperformed and had excessive risk and expense for its $1.13 billion 401(k) plan, a filing in North Carolina federal court said.
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May 16, 2024
Ex-Pharma Exec Cops To Contempt For Barred Finance Work
A Boston federal judge on Thursday accepted a former pharmaceutical company executive's guilty plea to a criminal contempt charge for using an alias to work on a finance venture despite a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ban.
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May 16, 2024
Gilead, Teva Want 17 HIV Drug Antitrust Appeals Consolidated
Gilead Sciences Inc. and Teva Pharmaceuticals are asking the Ninth Circuit to consolidate 17 appeals contesting their win in a case alleging they delayed generic versions of HIV medications, saying the three groups of buyers are raising largely the same issues but refuse to commit to combining their briefs.
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May 16, 2024
Pa. Pot Co. Says No Deal To Breach In Growth IP Suit
A Pennsylvania cannabis cultivator is asking a federal court to dismiss a suit claiming it broke an oral agreement with a consulting firm and continued to use the firm's trade secrets, saying no oral contract existed, nor was the firm's information trade secrets.
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May 16, 2024
$5.5M Apotex Generic Drug Price-Fixing Deal Gets Initial OK
A Pennsylvania federal judge gave preliminary approval to yet another settlement in the sweeping generic drug price-fixing multidistrict litigation, this time signing off on pharmaceutical company Apotex's $5.5 million settlement with clinics, hospitals and independent pharmacies.
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May 16, 2024
HUD Calls Pa. Medical Marijuana Housing Suit Premature
A Pennsylvania housing authority and two would-be residents acted hastily in suing the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, since HUD hadn't formally threatened to pull the authority's funding over a state court order to offer assistance to medical marijuana users, a HUD lawyer told a federal judge Thursday.
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May 16, 2024
Biden Admin Proposes To Loosen Restrictions On Marijuana
President Joe Biden on Thursday announced that his administration has formally recommended relaxing restrictions on marijuana, marking the most significant federal policy shift on cannabis since the drug was criminalized more than 50 years ago.
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May 15, 2024
'Excellent' Altria MDL Deal Earns Attys Fees Above Benchmark
A California federal judge on Wednesday awarded $13.65 million in plaintiffs' attorney fees as part of tobacco giant Altria's $45.5 million deal resolving consumer claims in multidistrict litigation alleging the company helped fuel a youth vaping crisis created by e-cigarette maker Juul, saying the "excellent result" merited fees above the normal 25% benchmark.
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May 15, 2024
Lilly Lands Default ITC Order Against Weight Loss Copycats
The U.S. International Trade Commission voted on Wednesday to give Eli Lilly a default win against the remaining companies in the drugmaker's trademark case surrounding its highly popular, billion-dollar weight loss drugs.
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May 15, 2024
Feds, Pesticide Cos. Seek More Time To Find Mediator
The Federal Trade Commission and agricultural chemical companies Syngenta and Corteva are seeking extra time to select a mediator as they litigate claims that the manufacturers leverage loyalty programs to suppress competition from cheaper generic pesticides.
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May 15, 2024
Anthem Blue Cross Owes $3.8M For COVID Tests, Lab Says
Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield of Connecticut should be forced to pay nearly $3.8 million for medical laboratory work, including COVID-19 tests, that the insurer either denied, underpaid or failed to acknowledge, according to a federal lawsuit by a New Jersey-based company with facilities in Pennsylvania.
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May 15, 2024
AstraZeneca Sales Reps Win Early Cert. In Gender Bias Suit
An Illinois federal judge on Tuesday granted a bid by workers to conditionally certify a collective in a lawsuit alleging AstraZeneca paid women less than men, giving the green light for notices to be sent out to female sales representatives who have worked at the pharmaceutical giant since late 2018.
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May 15, 2024
Monsanto's $23M False Ad Deal Challenged At 9th Circ.
Counsel representing a certified class of Missouri consumers urged the Ninth Circuit on Wednesday to reverse Monsanto's nationwide $23 million settlement resolving consumer false ad claims over risks associated with its Roundup weedkiller, arguing that Monsanto hid the settlement from the Missouri plaintiffs and that the class is effectively "getting absolutely nothing."
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May 15, 2024
Former Sandoz Executive Avoids Prison In Price-Fixing Case
A Pennsylvania federal judge on Wednesday approved a request from prosecutors and ex-Sandoz Pharmaceuticals executive Hector Armando Kellum for a one-year probation sentence in the generic drug price-fixing case against him, citing his cooperation with the government's investigation into a larger conspiracy.
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May 14, 2024
Biotech Co. Sued In Del. For Faulty Election, Share Hike Vote
A Cardiff Oncology Inc. stockholder has launched a direct and derivative suit in Delaware Chancery Court accusing the clinical stage biotech company of failing to count "against" votes in decisions that added 2 million shares to the company's limit in 2022 and reelected board members in 2022 and 2023.
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May 14, 2024
The PREP Immunity Question Won't Be Decided Yet
The Federal Circuit opted Tuesday not to say whether a 2005 public health law provides any legal immunity in a patent dispute between rival manufacturers of COVID-19 test swabs, leaving the thorny question unanswered.
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May 14, 2024
Norwich, Bausch Ask Fed. Circ. To Rethink Xifaxan IP Ruling
Alvogen's Norwich Pharmaceuticals unit and Bausch Health have launched bids for the Federal Circuit to rehear a case in which it affirmed a Delaware federal court's decision preventing the release of a generic version of Bausch's blockbuster diarrhea and brain disease drug, Xifaxan, until 2029.
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May 14, 2024
Calif. City Sues Dow, Shell Over TCP-Tainted Water
Dow Chemical and Shell USA are facing a negligence suit in California federal court by the city of Pomona, alleging the companies are responsible for manufacturing commercial products containing the toxic 1,2,3-trichloropropane that has migrated into the city's water supply and seeking to recoup costs over response efforts.
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May 14, 2024
Vein Tech Maker Faces Investor Suit Over DOJ Kickback Probe
Vein disease device maker Inari Medical Inc. and three of its current and former executives face a proposed investor class action over claims that the company's share price fell after it disclosed an investigation into its compliance with federal anti-kickback laws.
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May 14, 2024
Jury's $2M Medical Device Infringement Verdict Upended
A Delaware federal judge ruled Tuesday that Kurin Inc. did not infringe claims of a Magnolia Medical Technologies Inc. patent tied to sepsis testing, reversing a 2022 jury verdict that Kurin had infringed the patent and should pay $2 million.
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May 14, 2024
States Accuse EEOC Of 'Smuggling' Abortion Into PWFA Rule
Louisiana and Mississippi have sued the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission seeking to invalidate regulations implementing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, claiming the agency's stance that employers must provide workers accommodations if they get an abortion flouts U.S. Supreme Court precedent and the PWFA itself.
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May 14, 2024
Biotech Co. Hits Bankruptcy With Creditor Deal In Hand
Biotech company Gamida Cell Inc. filed for Chapter 11 protection in Delaware bankruptcy court after reaching a take-private deal with its largest creditor to extend up to $45 million in new capital and forgive more than $4 million in secured debt.
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May 14, 2024
Congressional IP Attorneys Keeping Close Watch On AI
Top intellectual property attorneys from the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives told a room full of Federal Circuit practitioners on Tuesday that artificial intelligence is the biggest thing to watch within IP law over the next few years.
Expert Analysis
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Grant Compliance Takeaways From Ga. Tech's FCA Settlement
Georgia Tech’s recent False Claims Act settlement over its failure to detect compliance shortcomings in a grant program was unique in that it involved a voluntary repayment of funds prior to the resolution, offering a few key lessons for universities receiving research funding from the government, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.
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Series
Competing In Dressage Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My lifelong participation in the sport of dressage — often called ballet on horses — has proven that several skills developed through training and competition are transferable to legal work, especially the ability to harness focus, persistence and versatility when negotiating a deal, says Stephanie Coco at V&E.
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How Poor Governance, Weak Contracts Harm Cannabis Cos.
Decades into cannabis decriminalization and legalization, many companies in the industry still operate on a handshake basis or fail to keep even minimally required records, which can have devastating effects and lead to costly, business-killing litigation, says Griffen Thorne at Harris Bricken.
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Del. Ruling Adds Momentum For Caremark Plaintiffs
The Delaware Supreme Court's recent opinion in Lebanon County Employees' Retirement Fund v. Collis could be viewed as expanding plaintiffs' ability to viably plead a Caremark claim against directors, so Delaware companies should be on heightened alert and focus on creating a record of board oversight, say attorneys at V&E.
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How Biotech Cos. Can Utilize Synthetic Royalty Financing
Synthetic royalty transactions have been on the rise as a funding structure for biotechnology companies, but questions have arisen surrounding how such transactions work, and structuring them correctly requires a nuanced understanding, say Todd Trattner and Ryan Murr at Gibson Dunn.
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The Legal Industry Needs A Cybersecurity Paradigm Shift
As law firms face ever-increasing risks of cyberattacks and ransomware incidents, the legal industry must implement robust cybersecurity measures and privacy-centric practices to preserve attorney-client privilege, safeguard client trust and uphold the profession’s integrity, says Ryan Paterson at Unplugged.
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Fed. Circ. In Jan.: One Word Can Affect Claim Construction
The Federal Circuit's recent Pacific Biosciences v. Personal Genomics decision highlights how even construction of a simple term can be dispositive, and thus disputed, in view of the specific context provided by the surrounding claim language, say Jeremiah Helm and Sean Murray at Knobbe.
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5 Reasons Associates Shouldn't Take A Job Just For Money
As a number of BigLaw firms increase salary scales for early-career attorneys, law students and lateral associates considering new job offers should weigh several key factors that may matter more than financial compensation, say Albert Tawil at Lateral Hub and Ruvin Levavi at Power Forward.
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How Biotech Deals May Help Competition, Despite FTC View
The Federal Trade Commission's complaint against Sanofi's proposed partnership with Maze Therapeutics highlights increasing skepticism of so-called killer acquisitions, but a closer look reveals potentially legitimate reasons behind why entities might decide to delay or abandon the development of acquired products, say consultants at Analysis Group.
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Expediting Psychedelics Approvals In The US And Canada
Accelerated regulatory pathways for psychedelics in the U.S. and Canada play a pivotal role in the progression of drugs, devices and novel therapies toward commercialization, say Kimberly Chew at Husch Blackwell, and Ana Dukic and Sabrina Ramkellawan at AxialBridge.
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Series
Playing Competitive Tennis Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My experience playing competitive tennis has highlighted why prioritizing exercise and stress relief, maintaining perspective under pressure, and supporting colleagues in pursuit of a common goal are all key aspects of championing a successful legal career, says Madhumita Datta at Lowenstein Sandler.
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Series
The Pop Culture Docket: Judge Djerassi On Super Bowl 52
Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Ramy Djerassi discusses how Super Bowl 52, in which the Philadelphia Eagles prevailed over the New England Patriots, provides an apt metaphor for alternative dispute resolution processes in commercial business cases.
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Reverse Merger Tips For Biotechs After SEC's Recent Actions
Several recent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission developments could limit the viability of reverse mergers for biotech companies, and will require additional creativity and analysis for private companies looking to go public, say attorneys at Orrick.
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Opinion
Proposed Rule Misses The Mark On Improving MDLs
The Advisory Committee on Civil Rules' recently proposed rule on multidistrict litigation would provide some guidance for courts on managing MDLs — but without any requirement for the early vetting of claims, it is particularly unhelpful for defendants in pharmaceutical and product liability cases, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.
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Taking A Closer Look At Fed. Circ. Claim Construction Split
An empirical analysis of a year's worth of claim construction decisions from the Federal Circuit and four key district court jurisdictions shows that these constructions vary in material ways depending on the analysis' source, and this body of case law would benefit from clarification by the Federal Circuit itself, say attorneys at WilmerHale.