Life Sciences

  • June 12, 2024

    2nd Circ. Backs Brokerage In Suit Over Biotech's Failed IPO

    The Second Circuit on Wednesday declined to reinstate a Texas company's suit against an investment brokerage that advised biotech Inpellis on an initial public offering that failed and sent the company to file Chapter 7, ruling a lower court rightly found a global settlement eclipsed the need for a jury trial.

  • June 12, 2024

    Lipitor Buyers Get Final OK For $93M Deal In Antitrust Fight

    A New Jersey federal judge gave final approval Wednesday to a $93 million settlement between a class of buyers of Lipitor and Pfizer, resolving their claims in sprawling antitrust litigation that Pfizer conspired with a drug manufacturer to delay the release of a cheaper generic version of Lipitor and monopolize the market.

  • June 12, 2024

    SPAC Dealmakers Expect Modest Pickup After Market Bottom

    Market professionals expect a slow pickup in deals involving special-purpose acquisition companies starting in the second half of 2024, predicting on Wednesday that a leaner market will emerge following the recent crash and imposition of tighter regulations.

  • June 12, 2024

    Directors Of Defunct Med Tech SPAC Seek Toss Of Del. Suit

    Directors of a special purpose acquisition company that merged with now-defunct medical technology company Better Therapeutics Inc. urged Delaware's Court of Chancery on Wednesday to toss a shareholder's suit about the $15 million de-SPAC merger, saying it wasn't like other problematic SPAC deals.

  • June 12, 2024

    Forte Biosciences Reaches $2M Deal To End Chancery Suit

    Clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company Forte Biosciences has reached a multipart, $2 million concession-plus-cash settlement in Delaware's Court of Chancery with a private investment fund that ran a board proxy contest after its calls to liquidate the business were met with poison pill pushback.

  • June 12, 2024

    'Natural' Toothpaste Brand Loaded With PFAS, Moms Say

    Natural toothpaste company RiseWell LLC falsely advertised its kids toothpaste as "natural" and "safe to swallow," two mothers alleged Tuesday in a proposed class action, saying a U.S. Department of Defense-certified laboratory test found 750 times more "forever chemicals" in the toothpaste than researchers found in heavily tainted kale.

  • June 12, 2024

    32 AGs Urge Justices Take Up Okla. PBM Law Fight

    Thirty-two attorneys general urged the U.S. Supreme Court to take up Oklahoma's petition for review of a Tenth Circuit decision holding that federal law preempted portions of a state law regulating pharmacy benefit managers, arguing the justices needed to intervene to resolve a circuit split.

  • June 11, 2024

    Martin Shkreli Told To Hand Over Wu-Tang Album

    A New York federal judge ordered Martin Shkreli on Tuesday to hand over any copies he might have of the Wu-Tang Clan's album he once bought before it was sold off by the federal government to settle a $7.3 million tab from Shkreli's criminal judgment on securities fraud.

  • June 11, 2024

    Pharmacy Co. Optio Gets Interim OK For $10M DIP Package

    Illinois-based specialty pharmacy chain Optio received interim approval at a first-day hearing Tuesday in Delaware bankruptcy court to access a $10 million in new money debtor-in-possession financing to fund its Chapter 11.

  • June 11, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Reinstates Parts Of Blood Analyzer Secrets Verdict

    The Federal Circuit decided Tuesday that a Rhode Island jury was right to find that an Italian company's blood analyzer computer code was stolen by a U.S. rival, but another jury will have to determine any damages.

  • June 11, 2024

    9th Circ. Judge On Theranos Appeal: 'Good Story' For Holmes

    Two Ninth Circuit judges on a three-judge panel expressed concerns Tuesday that the district judge presiding over convicted former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes' criminal trial erred by allowing a layperson witness to offer expert testimony at trial, with one judge saying, "There's a pretty good story here for Ms. Holmes."

  • June 11, 2024

    AI No Scarier Than Nail Guns Or Microscopes, Kappos Says

    Former U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director David Kappos cautioned attorneys Tuesday to "keep ourselves grounded" about the use of artificial intelligence in intellectual property, saying it's just a tool like a microscope or nail gun, rather than something justifying "panic."

  • June 11, 2024

    NJ Supreme Court Rejects Bid For Roundup Mass Tort

    The New Jersey Supreme Court has rejected a request for litigation against Monsanto Co. and Bayer AG to be designated as multicounty litigation because there are too few cases, according to a notice to the bar published Monday.

  • June 11, 2024

    Slow IPO Recovery Expected To Accelerate In 2025

    More companies are preparing initial public offerings even as the pace of new listings has been slower than anticipated, experts said Tuesday, signaling that an IPO recovery is likely to accelerate next year after investors sort out November election results.

  • June 11, 2024

    10 Firms Seek $13M Fee For Effexor Antitrust Deal

    Ten law firms asked a New Jersey federal judge on Monday to award $13 million in counsel fees and an additional $2.1 million in costs for representing direct buyers in a $39 million settlement with Pfizer Inc. unit Wyeth over an alleged scheme to delay generic competition for the antidepressant drug Effexor XR.

  • June 11, 2024

    WilmerHale Lands Latham Atty To Help Lead Life Sciences

    WilmerHale has added a partner in Palo Alto, California, who is an expert in complex strategic collaboration and licensing transactions, to co-chair its life sciences practice group, the firm said Tuesday.

  • June 11, 2024

    FDA Urges 11th Circ. To Back E-Cig Ban Over High Nicotine

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is urging the Eleventh Circuit to not let Bidi Vapor market an e-cigarette product that the agency claimed would expose users to nearly twice as much nicotine as a typical combustible cigarette.

  • June 10, 2024

    5 Teva Inhaler Patents Kicked Out Of Orange Book

    A New Jersey federal judge said Monday that a handful of patents covering Teva-brand asthma inhalers were "improperly listed in the Orange Book," a legal holding that U.S. Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan quickly took some credit for.

  • June 10, 2024

    Bankrupt UpHealth Warned Of Criminal Charges In India

    A court in India said it has received a criminal charge sheet issued by an investigative governmental agency in Calcutta against bankrupt American healthcare company UpHealth, targeting it and executives over accusations that they conspired to defraud a local healthcare system.

  • June 10, 2024

    DOJ, FDA Form Task Force To Crack Down On Illegal E-Cigs

    The U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday said that a federal multi-agency task force has been founded to stop illegal sales of e-cigarettes.

  • June 10, 2024

    Baltimore Lands $45M Deal With Allergan In Opioid Litigation

    Baltimore has put to rest its claims that Allergan played a part in the opioid crisis, reaching a $45 million settlement with the pharmaceutical company, an amount the city called "unprecedented" in an announcement on Monday.

  • June 10, 2024

    9th Circ. Says Choctaw's Dispute With CVS Must Be Arbitrated

    A Ninth Circuit panel forced the Choctaw Nation to arbitrate a dispute over prescription drug reimbursement with CVS Health Corp. subsidiaries, affirming an Arizona federal judge's order in a published opinion Monday.

  • June 10, 2024

    Colo. Justices Say Toxic Tort Plaintiffs Didn't Waive Privilege

    Colorado's justices on Monday said plaintiffs suing a medical sterilization plant over exposure to a carcinogen cannot be forced to turn over communications with their lawyers related to an expert report, rejecting the plant's argument that the disclosure of a spreadsheet to an expert waived attorney-client privilege.

  • June 10, 2024

    Drugmakers Look To Nix Non-Insulin Claims From AG Suit

    Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly and Sanofi-Aventis asked the federal judge overseeing a diabetes drug price-fixing multidistrict litigation to rule for drugmakers on Mississippi's claims the pricing for GLP-1s is illegal, saying in a brief that the drugs are under patent and too new to be included in the insulin-pricing suit.

  • June 10, 2024

    Parexel Says Staffing Firm Liable For Temp's Alleged Fraud

    Clinical research company Parexel International says a Boston-based staffing agency is liable for damages caused by a rogue temporary employee who engaged in "egregious fraud" involving multiple drug trials, according to a complaint filed in Massachusetts state court.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Cheering In The NFL Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Balancing my time between a BigLaw career and my role as an NFL cheerleader has taught me that pursuing your passions outside of work is not a distraction, but rather an opportunity to harness important skills that can positively affect how you approach work and view success in your career, says Rachel Schuster at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Args In APA Case Amplify Justices' Focus On Agency Power

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    In arguments last week in Corner Post v. Federal Reserve, the U.S. Supreme Court justices paid particular importance to the possible ripple effects of their decision, which will address when a facial challenge to long-standing federal rules under the Administrative Procedure Act first accrues and could thus unleash a flood of new lawsuits, say attorneys at Snell & Wilmer.

  • Series

    ESG Around The World: Gulf Cooperation Council

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    The Gulf Cooperation Council is in the early stages of ESG policy implementation, but recent commitments by both states and corporations — including increases in sustainable finance transactions, environmental commitments, female representation on boards and human rights enforcement — show continuing progress toward broader ESG goals, say attorneys at Cleary.

  • Opinion

    J&J Bankruptcy Could Thwart Accountability For Victims

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    Johnson & Johnson's latest attempt at a "Texas Two-Step" bankruptcy proceeding exemplifies the way in which corporate defendants can use bankruptcy to evade accountability, limit resources available to victims, and impose flawed, one-size-fits-all resolutions on diverse groups of plaintiffs, says Michelle Simpson Tuegel at Simpson Tuegel Law.

  • Inside The PTAB's Seagen Cancer Drug Patent Decision

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    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board's recent finding that Seagen's claims for antibody-drug conjugate technology were unpatentable — for lack of enablement, lack of written description and anticipation — mark the latest chapter in the complex patent dispute as the case heads for director review, says Ryan Hagglund at Loeb & Loeb.

  • 6 Pointers For Attys To Build Trust, Credibility On Social Media

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    In an era of information overload, attorneys can use social media strategically — from making infographics to leveraging targeted advertising — to cut through the noise and establish a reputation among current and potential clients, says Marly Broudie at SocialEyes Communications.

  • Opinion

    Biden Admin's March-In Plan Would Hurt Medical Innovation

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    The Biden administration's proposal to reinterpret the Bayh-Dole Act and allow the government to claw back patents when it determines that a commercialized product's price is too high would discourage private investment in important research and development, says Ken Thorpe at the Rollins School of Public Health.

  • A Post-Mortem Analysis Of Stroock's Demise

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    After the dissolution of 147-year-old firm Stroock late last year shook up the legal world, a post-mortem analysis of the data reveals a long list of warning signs preceding the firm’s collapse — and provides some insight into how other firms might avoid the same disastrous fate, says Craig Savitzky at Leopard Solutions.

  • What's On The Horizon In Attorney General Enforcement

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    A look at recent attorney general actions, especially in the areas of antitrust and artificial intelligence, can help inform businesses on what they should expect in terms of enforcement trends as 10 attorney general races play out in 2024, say attorneys at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Preparing For DOJ's Data Analytics Push In FCPA Cases

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    After the U.S. Department of Justice’s recent announcement that it will leverage data analytics in Foreign Corrupt Practice Act investigations and prosecutions, companies will need to develop a compliance strategy that likewise implements data analytics to get ahead of enforcement risks, say attorneys at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Reducing The Risk Of PFAS False Advertising Class Actions

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    A wave of class actions continues to pummel products that allegedly contain per- or polyfluoroalkyl substances, with plaintiffs challenging advertising that they say misleads consumers by implying an absence of PFAS — but there are steps companies can take to minimize risk, say attorneys at Keller and Heckman.

  • Series

    Coaching High School Wrestling Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Coaching my son’s high school wrestling team has been great fun, but it’s also demonstrated how a legal career can benefit from certain experiences, such as embracing the unknown, studying the rules and engaging with new people, says Richard Davis at Maynard Nexsen.

  • Opinion

    New Rule 702 Helps Judges Keep Bad Science Out Of Court

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    A court's recent decision to exclude dubious testimony from the plaintiffs' experts in multidistrict litigation over acetaminophen highlights the responsibility that judges have to keep questionable scientific evidence out of courtrooms, particularly under recent amendments to Federal Rule of Evidence 702, says Sherman Joyce at the American Tort Reform Association.

  • SG's Office Is Case Study To Help Close Legal Gender Gap

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    As women continue to be underrepresented in the upper echelons of the legal profession, law firms could learn from the example set by the Office of the Solicitor General, where culture and workplace policies have helped foster greater gender equality, say attorneys at Ocean Tomo.

  • Opinion

    Patent Waiver For COVID Meds Would Harm US Biopharma

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    If the Biden administration backs the World Trade Organization in waiving patent rights on COVID-19 treatments, it would negatively affect the U.S. biopharmaceutical industry and help foreign competitors, without necessarily expanding global access to COVID-19 care, says clinical pathologist Wolfgang Klietmann.

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