Deals & Corporate Governance

  • May 21, 2024

    Wyden Expands Pharma Tax Investigation With Pfizer Inquiry

    Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden asked Pfizer to provide details on its tax practices to explain how the drug company has consistently paid tax rates that are significantly lower than the corporate tax rate in a letter released by the committee Tuesday.

  • May 21, 2024

    Louisiana Joins States Reining In Doc Noncompetes

    A long-debated Louisiana bill designed to make it easier for doctors to move jobs while alleviating physician shortages is being welcomed by some of the big healthcare players in the state.

  • May 21, 2024

    SPAC Investor's Suit Changes Came Too Late, Chancery Rules

    A shareholder of a special-purpose acquisition company that merged with a now-defunct medical technology company in 2021 waited too long to amend his year-old proposed class action and must defend the case against a motion to dismiss in June, Delaware's Court of Chancery said Tuesday.

  • May 21, 2024

    Cano Judge Agrees To OK Ch. 11 Plan Disclosure Statement

    A Delaware bankruptcy judge agreed on Tuesday to sign off on Miami-based primary healthcare group Cano Health Inc.'s Chapter 11 disclosure statement for purposes of soliciting creditor votes once the debtor files a revised proposed order that bakes in language that garnered support from unsecured creditors.

  • May 21, 2024

    CVS Health Taps American Express Atty As Governance Chief

    The former chief governance officer at American Express announced on her LinkedIn page that she has joined CVS Health as its new senior vice president, corporate secretary and chief governance officer.

  • May 21, 2024

    Strategic Hiring Was The New Normal For BigLaw In 2023

    The 400 largest law firms by headcount in the U.S. grew more slowly in 2023 than in the previous two years, while Kirkland & Ellis LLP surpassed the 3,000-attorney threshold, according to the latest Law360 ranking.

  • May 21, 2024

    The Law360 400: Tracking The Largest US Law Firms

    The legal market expanded more tentatively in 2023 than in previous years amid a slowdown in demand for legal services, especially in transactions, an area that has been sluggish but is expected to quicken in the latter half of the coming year.

  • May 20, 2024

    Teladoc Faces Suit Over Mental Health Platform's Losses

    Telemedicine giant Teladoc Health Inc. and two of its executives face a proposed investor class action alleging trading prices for Teladoc shares fell after the company disclosed that its flagship mental health counseling platform saw membership and revenue declines despite increased advertising costs.

  • May 20, 2024

    Healthcare Futures Co. Sues Breakaway Ex-Members In Del.

    A company seeking to develop what it described as the first healthcare futures exchange has sued two former managers in Delaware's Court of Chancery for pilfering intellectual property and other resources and then launching a competing venture.

  • May 20, 2024

    Ga. Judge OKs $5M Atty Fees In $41M Acella Thyroid Deal

    A Georgia federal judge has signed off on a nearly $41.5 million class action settlement with Acella Pharmaceuticals LLC over faulty thyroid medication, while awarding the class attorneys another $5 million in legal fees courtesy of the pharma company.

  • May 20, 2024

    Shah Ends Novavax Proxy Fight Following Sanofi Deal

    Hedge fund Shah Capital Management Inc. told fellow Novavax Inc. shareholders Monday that it is ending its fight to remove certain members of the biotech company's board, citing its favorable view of Novavax's licensing deal with Sanofi earlier this month.

  • May 17, 2024

    Pfizer Unit Wins $107.5M Patent Verdict Against AstraZeneca

    A Delaware federal jury on Friday said that AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP should pay $107.5 million in royalty damages for infringing a Pfizer-brand cancer treatment patent, although a final decision won't be issued until after a bench trial on some of AstraZeneca's additional defenses. 

  • May 17, 2024

    Steward Health Ch. 11 Lifts Lid On PE In Healthcare

    Steward Health's $9 billion Chapter 11 has come under scrutiny from state attorneys general seeking to uncover why a once-rapidly growing hospital network ended up buried in debt, with authorities taking the unusual tack of turning a special eye toward its former private equity owner Cerberus Capital Management, experts told Law360.

  • May 17, 2024

    Healthcare Co. Sues Steward In Ch. 11 Over Military Contract

    A healthcare company that provides services to members of the military and their families sued debtor Steward Health Care on Thursday in Texas bankruptcy court, asking a judge there to declare that the provider properly terminated a subcontract with Steward due to its declining financial state.

  • May 17, 2024

    EndoStim Emerges From Delaware Insolvency Proceeding

    Delaware's Court of Chancery has approved the final accounting for medical device company EndoStim Inc.'s state-administered insolvency proceeding after no creditor or other party raised any objections at a final hearing on Friday.

  • May 17, 2024

    Cano Health Strikes $7M Deal With Unsecured Creditors

    A Delaware bankruptcy judge said Friday that she was prepared to send Cano Health Inc.'s Chapter 11 plan out for a creditor vote after hearing the medical care group has reached a $7 million settlement with its unsecured creditors.

  • May 16, 2024

    3rd Circ. Shuns Teva's 'Novel' Appeal On Israeli Investor Class

    The Third Circuit on Thursday turned away an appeal brought by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., saying the class certification stage was not the right time to hear arguments over the "novel" question of the applicability of U.S. securities laws to Israeli-listed shares.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • May 15, 2024

    UnitedHealth Concealed DOJ Merger Investigation, Suit Says

    UnitedHealth Group has been hit with a proposed shareholder class action alleging that it failed to disclose that the U.S. Department of Justice had reopened an antitrust investigation into the health insurance giant following its acquisition of a healthcare data company, and that top executives had sold more than $120 million of shares knowing about the investigation before a news report revealed it to the public.

  • May 15, 2024

    Data On Harm Intrigues Pa. Justices In Hospital Closure Spat

    While tasked with considering how much deference appellate panels must give trial courts in matters involving preliminary injunctions, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Wednesday was equally curious about whether one such injunction needed to be supported by data showing that a hospital's closure would irrevocably hurt a Delaware County community.

  • May 14, 2024

    Healthcare Deals This Week: AbbVie, Takeda And More

    From a research collaboration focused on obesity management to blockbuster collaboration deals that included names like AbbVie, Takeda and Sanofi, it was a busy week for the healthcare industry this past week.

  • May 14, 2024

    Holland Adds Healthcare Transactions Partner In Chicago

    Holland & Knight on Tuesday announced the arrival of attorney John Saran on its healthcare transactions team, who joins after nine years at Ropes & Gray LLP.

  • 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.

Expert Analysis

  • Feds' Biotech Enforcement Efforts Are Too Heavy-Handed

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    The U.S. Department of Justice's recent actions against biotech companies untether the Anti-Kickback Statute from its original legislative purpose, and threaten to stifle innovation and undermine patient quality of care, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • Del. Ruling Highlights M&A Deal Adviser Conflict Disclosures

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    The Delaware Supreme Court recently reversed the Court of Chancery's dismissal of challenges to Nordic Capital's acquisition of Inovalon, demonstrating the importance of full disclosure of financial adviser conflicts when a going-private merger seeks business judgment rule review, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • A Recipe For Growth Equity Investing In A Slow M&A Market

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    Carl Marcellino at Ropes & Gray discusses the factors bolstering appetite for growth equity fundraising in a depressed M&A market, and walks through the deal terms and other ingredients that set growth equity transactions apart from bread-and-butter venture capital investing.

  • PE-Healthcare Mergers Should Prepare For Challenges

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    State and federal regulators are increasingly imposing new requirements on healthcare transactions involving private equity partners, with mergers that would have drawn little scrutiny a few years ago now requiring a multijurisdictional risk analysis during the deal formation process, say attorneys at Stinson.

  • Behind Indiana's Broad New Healthcare Transactions Law

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    The high materiality threshold in Indiana's recently passed healthcare transaction law, coupled with the inclusion of private equity in its definition of healthcare entities, makes it one of the broadest state review regulations to date, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

  • Highlights From The 2024 ABA Antitrust Spring Meeting

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    U.S. merger enforcement and cartels figured heavily in this year's American Bar Association spring antitrust meeting, where one key takeaway included news that the Federal Trade Commission's anticipated changes to the Hart-Scott-Rodino form may be less dramatic than many originally feared, say attorneys at Freshfields.

  • The Merger Cases That Will Matter At ABA Antitrust Meeting

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    While the American Bar Association's Antitrust Spring Meeting this week will cover all types of competition law issues in the U.S. and abroad, expect the federal agencies' recent track record in merger enforcement to be a key area of focus on the official panels and in cocktail party chatter, say attorneys at Freshfields.

  • Planning For Healthcare-Private Equity Antitrust Enforcement

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    U.S. antitrust agency developments could mean potential enforcement actions on healthcare-related acquisitions by private equity funds are on the way, and entities operating in this space should follow a series of practice tips, including early assessment of antitrust risks on both the state and federal level, say Ryan Quillian and John Kendrick at Covington.

  • Why Oncology Deal Making Continues To Fuel Biotech M&A

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    The biotech sector's potential for advancements in cancer care continues to attract deal-maker interest, and the keys to successful mergers and acquisitions include the ability to integrate innovative therapies, leverage technological advancements and respond to the dynamic needs of patients, say Bryan Luchs and Mike Weir at White & Case.

  • Tips For Healthcare M&A Amid Heightened Antitrust Scrutiny

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    As the Biden administration maintains its aggressive approach to antitrust merger enforcement, prudent healthcare M&A counsel will consider practical advice when contemplating their next transaction, including carefully selecting a merger partner and preparing for a potentially long waiting period prior to closing, say attorneys at Davis Wright.

  • Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents

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    Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.

  • 5 Trends To Watch As Value-Based Healthcare Gains Steam

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    Value-based care has grown and evolved as healthcare providers, payors and policymakers seek to improve patient results while containing costs, and this shift in the industry is expected to accelerate in the near future, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • What's At Play In Rising Lanham Act Cases At The ITC

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    Amid an uptick in Lanham Act claims involving false advertising related to medical devices at the U.S. International Trade Commission, Brian Busey and Maryrose McLaughlin at MoFo discuss recent ITC complaints from Eli Lilly and R.J. Reynolds, Lanham Act claim limits under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and the issues practitioners face in this realm.