Life Sciences

  • September 16, 2024

    Nebraska Medical Cannabis Initiatives Will Be On Nov. Ballot

    Initiatives to legalize medical marijuana in Nebraska will appear on the ballot come November, despite some evidence of fraud in the signature-collecting petition process, according to state election officials.

  • September 16, 2024

    NHS To Pay £87K To Clinician Who Quit Due To Low Funding

    A National Health Service trust has agreed to pay more than £87,000 ($114,800) to a psychologist who won her claim that she was forced to quit her job because of a lack of funding and resources for her mental health unit.

  • September 16, 2024

    McCarter & English's Misstatement Won't Nix Malpractice Win

    A New Jersey state judge has refused to toss his decision dismissing a biotechnology company's legal malpractice lawsuit against McCarter & English LLP, finding that the firm's misstatement about the chronology of earlier litigation — repeated in the judge's opinion — did not warrant reviving the case. 

  • September 13, 2024

    The 2024 Regional Powerhouses

    The law firms on Law360's list of 2024 Regional Powerhouses reflected the local peculiarities of their states while often representing clients in deals and cases that captured national attention.

  • September 13, 2024

    Sandoz Awarded $137M In Generic Hypertension Drug Fight

    United Therapeutics Corp. owes Sandoz Inc. $137.2 million for conduct that breached an earlier settlement agreement between the parties and effectively blocked the sale of Sandoz's generic version of an injectable drug to treat hypertension, a New Jersey federal judge has ruled.

  • September 13, 2024

    Walgreens To Pay $107M To End 3 False Billing Claims Suits

    Walgreens has agreed to pay $106.8 million to settle claims across three lawsuits that it violated the False Claims Act and state laws for billing government health programs for prescriptions it never dispensed, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday.

  • September 13, 2024

    Judge Orders Mobile IV Co. To Stop Eli Lilly Infringment

    A Colorado-based mobile outfit that administers IV treatments to customers in their homes must stop all advertising and web promotion that gives the impression it offers Eli Lilly medications, according to a settlement approved by a federal judge.

  • September 13, 2024

    EU Actors Lobby Hard For Top Jobs in New Commission

    European Union lawmakers and national governments are lobbying intensely to pull top jobs and policy their way as the new European Commission is formed for the next five years.

  • September 13, 2024

    Kennedys Hires Cyber, AI Pro From Addleshaw In London

    Kennedys Law LLP has recruited a data protection, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence specialist from Addleshaw Goddard LLP as a partner in London, with the new arrival saying Friday she made the switch to take advantage of the firm's global reach.

  • September 13, 2024

    SEC Fines Zymergen $30M Over Misleading Pre-IPO Claims

    Now-shuttered biotechnology company Zymergen Inc. has agreed to pay a $30 million fine to settle U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission allegations that it misled investors in its initial public offering when it used "unsupported hype" about the market potential for its technology for foldable touch screens.

  • September 13, 2024

    Trio Of BigLaw Mergers Expected To Drive More Deal Talks

    After months of a relatively steady pace of law firm mergers and acquisitions, the trio of proposed BigLaw tie-ups announced in recent days will likely spur more firms toward entertaining similar deal talks, experts say. Here, Law360 offers a snapshot of the proposed deals.

  • September 13, 2024

    Emergent BioSolutions Pays $40M To Settle COVID Vax Suit

    Emergent BioSolutions has agreed to pay $40 million to settle a consolidated class action alleging it misled investors about how prepared it was to handle two high-profile deals to manufacture COVID-19 vaccines.

  • September 13, 2024

    Med Techs Settle Eyelid Cleaner Patent Spat

    Two companies specializing in eyelid cleaning technology have reached a deal to settle their dispute in California federal court after the court refused to dismiss the infringement allegations.

  • September 13, 2024

    2 Life Sciences Cos. Start Trading After Raising $540M Total

    Drug developers Bicara Therapeutics Inc. and Zenas BioPharma Inc. have debuted on the Nasdaq stock exchange in separate initial public offerings steered by a trio of law firms.

  • September 13, 2024

    Makers Of Paragard Say Time Ran Out On Claims In 236 Suits

    Teva Pharmaceuticals and The Cooper Cos. pressed an Atlanta federal judge to pare back multidistrict litigation over alleged defects in the Paragard IUD by dismissing untimely claims across 236 complaints.

  • September 13, 2024

    Ex-DOJ Deputy In TikTok, Twitter Cases Joins Mayer Brown

    A former leader of the U.S. Department of Justice's consumer protection arm who helped bring landmark privacy cases against TikTok and Twitter is jumping to Mayer Brown LLP, where he will focus on government investigations and enforcement actions.

  • September 13, 2024

    UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

    This past week in London has seen a football agent sue Chelsea FC after being cleared of allegations he threatened the club’s former director, an ongoing patent dispute between Amgen and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, and a private school in Edinburgh suing Riverstone Insurance over compensation claims tied to historical abuse allegations made by former pupils. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • September 13, 2024

    NHS Scotland Sues Accord, Allergan Over Drug Pricing

    Scotland has sued Actavis and Allergan to recover the additional money they allegedly charged for hydrocortisone tablets used to treat a rare autoimmune disorder, the specialist antitrust tribunal said Friday after an appeals court reinstated price-fixing fines against the drugmakers.

  • September 13, 2024

    Former MilliporeSigma Patent Atty Joins Polsinelli In St. Louis

    A patent expert and former in-house attorney with chemical and biotechnology company MilliporeSigma has joined Polsinelli PC's St. Louis office, continuing the law firm's expansion of its life sciences team.

  • September 13, 2024

    Ropes & Gray Helps Kohlberg Net $4.3B For 10th PE Fund

    Kohlberg & Co., advised by Ropes & Gray, said Friday it has clinched its 10th flagship fund after raising $4.3 billion from limited partners, with plans to target investments in companies within areas including pharmaceuticals, healthcare and financial and compliance services.

  • September 13, 2024

    French Vaccine Maker Valneva Raises €61M In Private Placing

    Vaccine manufacturer Valneva SE said Friday that it has successfully raised approximately €61.2 million ($67.9 million) by selling shares to investors, which it plans to use to fund projects.

  • September 13, 2024

    Alcon Loses European Patent Over Eye Imaging Tech

    European officials have stripped Alcon Inc. of its protections over an eye-imaging device, ruling that the company's amended description of the technology's "ray tracing" process unlawfully broadened the patent.

  • September 12, 2024

    Wilson Sonsini Hires Tax Pro From Slaughter and May

    Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC has recruited a tax specialist from Slaughter and May to its office in London to boost its strengths representing U.K. and European technology and life sciences companies that are expanding in the U.S. and globally.

  • September 12, 2024

    Faegre Drinker Adds White Collar Trio From Greenberg Traurig

    Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP is building out its white collar team with former veteran prosecutors, announcing Wednesday it had added two partners and an associate from Greenberg Traurig LLP who will bolster its San Francisco and Philadelphia offices

  • September 12, 2024

    Mass Tort Boutique Leader On Sizing Up With Anapol Weiss

    Nearly four years after leaving the corporate defense world to launch her own five-attorney plaintiffs' boutique, former Wilkinson Stekloff LLP founding partner Alexandra Walsh says she's looking forward to spending more time in the courtroom as her firm is absorbed by Philadelphia-based mass tort and personal injury firm Anapol Weiss. Here, Law360 Pulse speaks with Walsh about the decision to merge and about her move from the defense to the plaintiffs' bar.

Expert Analysis

  • FDA Warning Indicates Scrutiny Of Regenerative Health Cos.

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    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's recent warning letter to Akan Biosciences is a quintessential example of the agency's enforcement priorities for certain products involving human cells and tissues, and highlights ongoing scrutiny placed on manufacturers, say Dominick DiSabatino and Cortney Inman at Sheppard Mullin.

  • 2 Regulatory Approaches To Psychedelic Clinical Trials

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    Comparing the U.S. and Canada's regulatory frameworks for clinical trials of psychedelic drugs can be useful for designing trial protocols that meet both countries' requirements, which can in turn help diversify patient populations, bolster data robustness and expedite market access, say Kimberly Chew at Husch Blackwell and Sabrina Ramkellawan at AxialBridge.

  • Opinion

    Bankruptcy Judges Can Justly Resolve Mass Tort Cases

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    Johnson & Johnson’s recent announcement of a prepackaged reorganization plan for its talc unit highlights that Chapter 11 is a continually evolving living statute that can address new types of problems with reorganization, value and job preservation, and just treatment for creditors, says Kenneth Rosen at Ken Rosen Advisors PC.

  • Series

    Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Atop the list of ways fishing makes me a better lawyer is the relief it offers from the chronic stress of a demanding caseload, but it has also improved my listening skills and patience, and has served as an exceptional setting for building earnest relationships, says Steven DeGeorge​​​​​​​ at Robinson Bradshaw.

  • A Healthier Legal Industry Starts With Emotional Intelligence

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    The legal profession has long been plagued by high rates of mental health issues, in part due to attorneys’ early training and broader societal stereotypes — but developing one’s emotional intelligence is one way to foster positive change, collectively and individually, says attorney Esperanza Franco.

  • To Make Your Legal Writing Clear, Emulate A Master Chef

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    To deliver clear and effective written advocacy, lawyers should follow the model of a fine dining chef — seasoning a foundation of pure facts with punchy descriptors, spicing it up with analogies, refining the recipe and trimming the fat — thus catering to a sophisticated audience of decision-makers, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Circuit Judge Writes An Opinion, AI Helps: What Now?

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    Last week's Eleventh Circuit opinion in Snell v. United Specialty Insurance, notable for a concurrence outlining the use of artificial intelligence to evaluate a term's common meaning, is hopefully the first step toward developing a coherent basis for the judiciary's generative AI use, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.

  • Fed. Circ. Rulings Crystallize Polymorph Patent 'Obviousness'

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    A comparison of two recent Federal Circuit obviousness challenge decisions regarding polymorph patents provides helpful insight into the assessment of screening arguments, particularly the issue of reasonable expectation of success, say Michael Green and John Molenda at Steptoe.

  • DC Circ. Ruling Heightens HHS Contract Pharmacy Challenges

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    The D.C. Circuit's recent ruling that the Section 340B program does not bar manufacturers from restricting deliveries of discounted drugs to contract pharmacies represents a second strike against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' current contract pharmacy policy and raises the stakes surrounding an upcoming Seventh Circuit ruling on the same issue, say attorneys at Foley Hoag.

  • 3 Infringement Defenses To Consider 10 Years Post-Nautilus

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    In the 10 years since the U.S. Supreme Court’s influential Nautilus ruling, the spirit of the “amenable to construction” test that the opinion rejected persists with many patent litigators and judges, so patent infringement defense counsel should always consider several key arguments, says John Vandenberg at Klarquist Sparkman.

  • 9th Circ. COVID 'Cure' Case Shows Perks Of Puffery Defense

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    The Ninth Circuit's March decision in a case surrounding a company's statements about a potential COVID-19 cure may encourage defendants to assert puffery defenses in securities fraud cases, particularly in those involving optimistic statements about breakthrough drugs that are still untested, say attorneys at Cahill Gordon.

  • FTC Focus: Exploring The Meaning Of Orange Book Letters

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    The Federal Trade Commission recently announced an expansion of its campaign to promote competition by targeting pharmaceutical manufacturers' improper Orange Book patent listings, but there is a question of whether and how this helps generic entrants, say Colin Kass and David Munkittrick at Proskauer.

  • Investors Can Aid In The Acceptance Of Psychedelic Medicine

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    Psychedelic medicine is ready to have its breakthrough moment, and although it still faces political, legal and communications challenges, private equity investors can play a significant role in changing the public perception on psychedelics from taboo to acceptance, say Kimberly Chew at Husch Blackwell, Charlie Panfil at the Daschle Group and Ethan Lutz at FTI Consulting.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: May Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses four notable circuit court decisions on topics from automobile insurance to securities — and provides key takeaways for counsel on issues including circuit-specific ascertainability requirements and how to conduct a Daubert analysis prior to class certification.

  • Perspectives

    Trauma-Informed Legal Approaches For Pro Bono Attorneys

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    As National Trauma Awareness Month ends, pro bono attorneys should nevertheless continue to acknowledge the mental and physical effects of trauma, allowing them to better represent clients, and protect themselves from compassion fatigue and burnout, say Katherine Cronin at Stinson and Katharine Manning at Blackbird.

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