Deals & Corporate Governance
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August 13, 2024
Biotechs Walk Tightrope On Drug Price Negotiation Messaging
Biotech companies whose products have been affected by Medicare price negotiations under the Inflation Reduction Act largely reassured investors on recent earnings calls of their success, even as they argue in court that the program could upend their businesses and the larger industry.
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August 13, 2024
Pioneer Health Ch. 11 Plan With Future Sale Gets OK
Bankrupt clinic operator Pioneer Health Inc. received approval Tuesday from a Delaware court of its Chapter 11 plan with a post-confirmation sale set to be completed before the plan's effective date.
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August 13, 2024
FTC Makes 2nd Request In Review Of Medical Device Co. Deal
Medical device company Surmodics Inc. disclosed Monday that federal regulators are taking a closer look at its agreement to be acquired by private equity giant GTCR in a $627 million deal.
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August 13, 2024
Are 'Public Advantage' Laws Driving Up Healthcare Costs?
As U.S. healthcare costs continue to rise, so do concerns about laws in over a dozen states that allow monopolistic hospital consolidations to obtain antitrust immunity despite warnings from federal officials that these so-called public advantage laws actually hurt patients' pocketbooks.
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August 13, 2024
3 Firms Drive $3.8B Carlyle-Baxter Kidney Care Deal
Kirkland & Ellis LLP-led private equity firm Carlyle on Tuesday agreed to acquire the kidney care unit of Baxter International Inc., represented by Sullivan & Cromwell LLP and Baker McKenzie, for $3.8 billion, Baxter said in a statement Tuesday.
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August 12, 2024
States Want Teva Generic Price Fixing Case Tried 1st
A coalition of state attorneys general suing a slew of generic drugmakers are asking for a Connecticut federal court to proceed with one of the two cases before the other, saying the outcome in that case will have a "significant impact" on settlement talks with other pharmaceutical company plaintiffs.
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August 12, 2024
States Oppose Shkreli High Court Bid For $64M Disgorgement
State enforcers are opposing a petition from ex-pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a disgorgement order requiring him to pay up to $64 million for an alleged scheme to increase the price of a life-saving drug by 4,000%
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August 12, 2024
NJ Health System Wants Proskauer DQ'd From Antitrust Case
Proskauer Rose LLP is facing accusations that it should be disqualified from representing one of New Jersey's largest healthcare systems in an antitrust lawsuit brought by a competitor that was once a client of the firm.
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August 09, 2024
DC Circ. Says Mining Cos. Can't Appeal Retiree Health Win
Four former subsidiaries of the now-defunct coal company Consol Energy Inc. can't challenge an arbitration award that banned unilateral changes to union-represented retirees' health benefits plan, the D.C. Circuit held Friday, saying the ex-subsidiaries weren't parties to the award and aren't injured by it.
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August 09, 2024
Healthcare-Focused SPAC Voyager Nets $220M IPO
Shares of healthcare-focused Voyager Acquisition Corp. began trading publicly on Friday after the company priced its $220 million initial public offering.
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August 09, 2024
Fannie Mae Seeks Memory Care Receiver After $28.3M Default
Fannie Mae asked a federal judge to appoint a receiver for three North Carolina senior living facilities after arguing that borrower Affinity Living Communities defaulted on $28.3 million worth of loans from the government-backed lender by missing three months of payments.
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August 08, 2024
In Reddit Hot Seat, Chopra Touts CFPB Medical Debt Proposal
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra took to social media on Thursday to pitch the agency's proposed ban on medical debt reporting, defending it against concerns that the plan could interfere with credit scores and encourage people to skip out on medical bills.
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August 08, 2024
Newmark Secures $300M For Healthcare Real Estate JV
Newmark Group Inc. has put together a joint venture between two companies and has also obtained $300 million in financing for the venture so that it can develop "purpose-built healthcare properties," the commercial real estate advisory firm announced Aug. 8.
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August 07, 2024
Amgen Waged Lawfare To Overcharge For Drug, Suit Claims
Maryland-based independent licensees of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association claim pharmaceutical giant Amgen Inc. and its subsidiaries have engaged in unlawful monopolistic practices that have inflated the cost of the blockbuster drug Enbrel.
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August 07, 2024
Delta Dental Can't Get Antitrust Standard Decided Early
An Illinois federal judge denied a bid from Delta Dental to have the court decide what legal standard should apply to claims that it violated antitrust law through a $13 billion scheme to restrict competition before ruling on a class certification motion.
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August 06, 2024
Henrietta Lacks' Family Sues Novartis, Viatris Over HeLa Cells
The family of the late Henrietta Lacks, a Black woman whose cells were harvested without her knowledge to create the first immortalized human cell line, sued Novartis and Viatris in Maryland federal court Monday, alleging the pharmaceutical giants have "reaped massive profits" using Lacks' stolen cells to create new drugs.
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August 06, 2024
Life Sciences Credit Firm Symbiotic Launches With $600M
A new credit firm led by veterans in the healthcare industry announced its launch Tuesday, with more than $600 million in capital earmarked for loans to life sciences companies.
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August 06, 2024
Takeaways From This Week's Healthcare Earnings Calls
The third main week of earnings calls for healthcare companies this quarter saw names like GSK, Humana and Teladoc post their financial results.
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August 06, 2024
Pharma Co. Founder Beats Suit Over Short-Swing Trading
The founder of Y-mAbs Therapeutics Inc. beat back a suit alleging he realized more than $2.5 million in so-called short-swing profits after he exchanged his Y-mAbs stock for those of another company, with a New York federal judge saying in a ruling of first impression that the founder does not need to return the gains he received.
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August 05, 2024
Indivior Accused Of Overstating Prospects Of 3 Opioid Drugs
Drugmaker Indivior PLC has been hit with a proposed investor class action in Virginia federal court over claims it overstated the financial prospects of its drugs used to treat opioid use disorders and the company's ability to forecast such financial projections.
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August 05, 2024
Centessa Beats Shareholder Suit Over Kidney Drug
A New York federal judge has tossed a shareholder lawsuit alleging that Centessa Pharmaceuticals PLC overstated the prospects of its kidney disease treatment ahead of the drugmaker's initial public offering, saying the plaintiffs have failed to allege any actionable misleading statements or omissions.
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August 05, 2024
Avidity Hires Seasoned Life Sciences Attorney As CLO
Avidity Biosciences Inc., a maker of therapies for muscle diseases, has found its new legal leader in an experienced life sciences in-house attorney from Mirati Therapeutics.
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August 05, 2024
Healthcare REIT Provides $303M For Nursing Properties Buy
CareTrust REIT Inc. extended a $260 million senior mortgage loan and $43 million preferred equity investment for the acquisition of a portfolio of skilled-nursing and senior housing properties, the healthcare real estate investment trust has announced.
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August 02, 2024
Monitor Says HCA Possibly Flouted Promises In Hospital Deal
The independent monitor tasked with ensuring HCA Healthcare has complied with an agreement that cemented its $1.5 billion acquisition of a North Carolina health system has said the for-profit network may have deviated from those promises, according to a new report.
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August 01, 2024
MultiPlan, Insurance Cos. Must Face Collusion MDL In Illinois
The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation on Thursday centralized in Chicago six class actions challenging the MultiPlan pricing tools that healthcare providers allege are used by UnitedHealth, Aetna, Cigna and other major insurers to systematically underpay out-of-network providers, with more than a dozen similar lawsuits potentially tagging along.
Expert Analysis
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AI Use May Trigger False Claims Act's Public Disclosure Bar
The likely use of publicly available artificial intelligence tools to detect government fraud by combing through large data sets will raise complex questions about a False Claims Act provision that prohibits the filing of claims based on previously disclosed information, say Nick Peterson and Spencer Brooks at Wiley Rein.
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Beware Privacy Risks In Training AI Models With Health Data
Because data used to train artificial intelligence models may be protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act or other regulations, users of these models should conduct proper diligence to avoid costly compliance failures, say Neha Matta and Barbara Bennett at Frost Brown.
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Unpacking GAO's FY 2023 Bid Protest Report
The U.S. Government Accountability Office's recent bid protest report reflects an increase in sustained protests, illustrating that disappointed offerors may see little reason to refrain from seeking corrective action — but there is more to the story, say Aron Beezley and Patrick Quigley at Bradley Arant.
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How Fla. Bankruptcy Ruling May Affect Equity Owners
A Florida bankruptcy court’s recent ruling in Vital Pharmaceuticals — which rejected the Third Circuit’s Majestic Star decision that determined a bankrupt corporation’s flow-through status was not protected by the automatic stay — may significantly affect how equity owners can mitigate the impact of flow-through structures in bankruptcy, say Eric Behl-Remijan and Natasha Hwangpo at Ropes & Gray.
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Earnout Contract Considerations After NC Good Faith Ruling
The North Carolina Supreme Court's recent Value Health Solutions v. Pharmaceutical Research decision, holding the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing did not apply in an earnout dispute related to an asset sale, demonstrates the need for practitioners to pay careful attention to milestone concepts in M&A transactions, says Benjamin Hicks at Wagner Hicks.
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Attorneys, Law Schools Must Adapt To New Era Of Evidence
Technological advancements mean more direct evidence is being created than ever before, and attorneys as well as law schools must modify their methods to account for new challenges in how this evidence is collected and used to try cases, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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ESG Around The World: The UK
Following Brexit, the U.K. has adopted a different approach to regulating environmental, social and governance factors from the European Union — an approach that focuses on climate disclosures by U.K.-regulated entities, while steering clear of the more ambitious objectives pursued by the EU, say attorneys at Dechert.
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Tips For Litigating Against Pro Se Parties In Complex Disputes
Litigating against self-represented parties in complex cases can pose unique challenges for attorneys, but for the most part, it requires the same skills that are useful in other cases — from documenting everything to understanding one’s ethical duties, says Bryan Ketroser at Alto Litigation.
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It's Time To Prescribe Frameworks For AI-Driven Health Care
As health care providers begin to adopt artificial intelligence in clinical settings, new legal and regulatory challenges are emerging, with the critical issue being balancing AI's benefits and innovations in health care while ensuring patient safety and provider accountability, say attorneys at Kirkland.
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Preparing For Higher Health Transaction Standards In Calif.
The California Office of Health Care Affordability's revised draft regulations on the reporting of health care transactions incorporate useful improvements to the regulatory scheme, but also contain provisions that may cause concerns for parties contemplating covered transactions, says Andrew Demetriou at Husch Blackwell.
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How Ill. Supreme Court Could Shape Statutory Violation Cases
In Fausett v. Walgreens, the Illinois Supreme Court will take up the question of whether a violation of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act satisfies the injury-in-fact requirement, and any outcome could significantly change the litigation landscape in Illinois, say Donald Patrick Eckler and Joshua Zhao at Freeman Mathis.
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Pro Bono Work Is Powerful Self-Help For Attorneys
Oct. 22-28 is Pro Bono Week, serving as a useful reminder that offering free legal help to the public can help attorneys expand their legal toolbox, forge community relationships and create human connections, despite the challenges of this kind of work, says Orlando Lopez at Culhane Meadows.
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Playing In A Rock Cover Band Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Performing in a classic rock cover band has driven me to hone several skills — including focus, organization and networking — that have benefited my professional development, demonstrating that taking time to follow your muse outside of work can be a boon to your career, says Michael Gambro at Cadwalader.