Life Sciences

  • October 07, 2024

    Boehringer Defends Zantac As Cancer Jury Trial Kicks Off

    Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals defended the company's heartburn medication Zantac during the defense's opening statements in a product liability trial Monday, telling California jurors that trial evidence will show the plaintiff never used Boehringer's over-the-counter Zantac products, and that other risk factors put him at risk of developing bladder cancer.

  • October 07, 2024

    ITC Judge Pushes For Import Ban In Liver Drug Secrets Row

    The U.S. International Trade Commission's chief judge is recommending the agency block a Hong Kong-listed drug developer from potentially marketing unapproved treatments for a type of liver disease for the next seven years, a win for another company behind a different unapproved treatment for the same type of liver disease.

  • October 07, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Questions If Safer OxyContin Profits Came From IP

    An attorney for Purdue Pharma didn't seem to find much purchase at the Federal Circuit on Monday as he argued that the company's patents for abuse-deterrent OxyContin weren't obvious, claiming other companies had ample opportunity to reach a solution and failed to do so.

  • October 07, 2024

    Merck Immune For 'Inflated' Vax Claims To FDA, 3rd Circ. Says

    A divided Third Circuit panel inoculated Merck from claims that it tried to prevent competition by making inflated declarations to federal regulators about its mumps vaccine, with the majority ruling Monday that because Merck convinced federal regulators it had extended the vaccine's long-term potency, those assertions can't have been an anticompetitive "sham."

  • October 07, 2024

    Biotech, Medical Device Firms Prep Three IPOs Totaling $376M

    Two venture-backed biotechnology startups and a medical device maker launched plans on Monday for three initial public offerings projected to raise about $376 million combined, adding to a busy schedule of IPOs this week.

  • October 07, 2024

    Mich. Supreme Court Snapshot: Insulin Prices, Disney Audit

    The Michigan Supreme Court's first oral argument session of the 2024-25 term promises to be a busy one, involving an investigation into Eli Lilly's insulin prices with big implications for the scope of Michigan's consumer protection law and Disney's appeal of an order to turn over decades-old uncashed checks to the state treasurer.

  • October 07, 2024

    Mylan, Novo Nordisk Settle Ozempic Patent Dispute

    Mylan Pharmaceuticals and Novo Nordisk have asked the Patent Trial and Appeal Board to terminate Mylan's request to review whether a patent covering Novo Nordisk's blockbuster diabetes and weight-loss drug Ozempic holds up, telling the board the two sides have resolved their dispute.

  • October 07, 2024

    5 Decisions To Know By Outgoing Mass. Chief Judge

    Chief Massachusetts U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV, who announced Monday that he will step back from full-time judicial service next summer, has presided over numerous significant cases in recent years, including a dispute over the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's disgorgement powers and a birth defects suit against GlaxoSmithKline.

  • October 07, 2024

    Trio Of 1st Circ. Criminal Cases Turned Away By Top Court

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review three white collar cases on appeal from the First Circuit, including challenges to a cryptocurrency founder's conviction for investor theft and an Illinois attorney's fraud and money laundering conspiracy verdict.

  • October 07, 2024

    Justices Won't Hear Kickback Statute 'Willfulness' Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to consider whether a "willful" act under federal anti-kickback law requires a defendant to know their actions violate the law.

  • October 07, 2024

    High Court Rejects Pleas To Hear 7 Patent Cases

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned down seven petitions seeking review of decisions in patent cases, including appeals dealing with double patenting, patent eligibility and Patent Trial and Appeal Board procedures.

  • October 07, 2024

    High Court Won't Look At Alabama Frozen Embryo Decision

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday said it won't consider a challenge to a first-of-its-kind Alabama state court ruling that frozen embryos are legally children.

  • October 07, 2024

    Justices Won't Hear Shkreli's Bid To Undo $64M Disgorgement

    The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to review former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli's challenge of 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%.

  • October 04, 2024

    Top 5 Supreme Court Cases To Watch This Fall

    The U.S. Supreme Court will hear several cases in its October 2024 term that could further refine the new administrative law landscape, establish constitutional rights to gender-affirming care for transgender minors and affect how the federal government regulates water, air and weapons. Here, Law360 looks at five of the most important cases on the Supreme Court's docket so far.

  • October 04, 2024

    NJ, Ethics Board Must Hand Over Docs In Retaliation Fight

    A New Jersey state judge has ordered the state and its ethics commission to hand over to an ex-state health official internal documents in his lawsuit alleging that he was wrongly fired in 2020 for raising concerns about the earmarking of COVID-19 tests for relatives of another state official.

  • October 04, 2024

    DOJ Charges Execs, Sales Reps Over Texas 'Pill Mills' Sales

    Tens of millions of opioid pills ended up in the black market by way of pharmaceutical distribution executives and sales representatives who targeted a Houston "hot zone" for drug diversion, the U.S. Department of Justice said in unsealing several indictments in Texas, Florida, Missouri and North Carolina.

  • October 04, 2024

    Regeneron Can't Ax Willful Infringement In COVID Patent Case

    Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. cannot boot a willful infringement claim from Allele Biotech's patent suit over the development of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, a New York federal judge ruled Friday, saying it was up to Regeneron to establish that Allele failed to show the defendant had presuit knowledge of the patent.

  • October 04, 2024

    Healthcare Co. Inks Deal In DOL Equal Pay Investigation

    A healthcare diagnostics company has agreed to pay nearly $60,000 to the U.S. Department of Labor to end an agency probe over concerns that a New Jersey manufacturing facility undercompensated female employees compared to their male colleagues.

  • October 04, 2024

    There May Not Be Life On Mars, But There Could Be IP

    The rapidly expanding space tourism industry is raising a vast universe of potential intellectual property issues. Experts say most of the laws governing extraterrestrial IP are as unexplored as space itself.

  • October 04, 2024

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

    This past week in London has seen GMB Union sued by the makers of Tetley Tea after a staff walkout in September, boxer Mike Tyson hit with legal action from a marketing company and the Met Police face a misuse of private data claim from a woman who had a relationship with an undercover police officer. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • October 04, 2024

    High Court Takes Up E-Cig 'Forum Shopping' Appeal

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to review a Fifth Circuit ruling that allowed out-of-circuit e-cigarette manufacturers to seek judicial review before the New Orleans-based court so long as the petition is joined by a seller located in the circuit.

  • October 04, 2024

    High Court Will Hear TCPA Case Over Online Junk Faxes

    The U.S. Supreme Court said Friday it will review whether district courts must follow a Federal Communications Commission ruling that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act does not prohibit junk faxes that are received only via electronic inboxes.

  • October 03, 2024

    Gilead Makes Generic HIV Drug Plan, Advocates Urge Expansion

    Gilead Sciences Inc. this week announced a plan to allow six drugmakers to produce generic lenacapavir to help combat the HIV pandemic in 120 lower-income countries, an initiative that won praise as a welcome step Thursday, although advocacy groups urged the company to expand the effort.

  • October 03, 2024

    Boston Pharma Co. Drops Another Moderna Patent Suit

    A Boston pharmaceutical developer once again has agreed to drop a patent lawsuit against Moderna over its popular coronavirus vaccines after losing a claim construction ruling in front of Delaware's top judge.

  • October 03, 2024

    Del. Vice Chancellor Slams Fee Terms In Advancement Case

    A Delaware vice chancellor balked Thursday at "success fee" terms in a fee advancement case that she suggested made the clients a "human shield" in litigation over attorney expenses in connection with a New Jersey legal malpractice case.

Expert Analysis

  • Big Business May Come To Rue The Post-Administrative State

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    Many have framed the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decisions overturning Chevron deference and extending the window to challenge regulations as big wins for big business, but sand in the gears of agency rulemaking may be a double-edged sword, creating prolonged uncertainty that impedes businesses’ ability to plan for the future, says Todd Baker at Columbia University.

  • Opinion

    Proposed Terminal Disclaimers Rule Harms Colleges, Startups

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    Universities and startups are ill-suited to follow the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s recently proposed rule on terminal disclaimers due to their necessity of filing patent applications early prior to contacting outside entities for funds and resources, say attorneys at Sterne Kessler.

  • A Midyear Forecast: Tailwinds Expected For Atty Hourly Rates

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    Hourly rates for partners, associates and support staff continued to rise in the first half of this year, and this growth shows no signs of slowing for the rest of 2024 and into next year, driven in part by the return of mergers and acquisitions and the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence, says Chuck Chandler at Valeo Partners.

  • Critical Questions Remain After High Court's Abortion Rulings

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decisions in two major abortion-related cases this term largely preserve the status quo for now, but leave federal preemption, the Comstock Act and in vitro fertilization in limbo, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.

  • A Look At Acquisition Trends For Radiopharmaceuticals

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    As radiopharmaceutical drugs are increasingly used for the diagnosis and treatment of certain diseases, interest from Big Pharma entities is following suit, despite some questions around the drugs' capacity to expand beyond their limited niche, says Adrian Toutoungi at Taylor Wessing.

  • Opinion

    States Should Loosen Law Firm Ownership Restrictions

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    Despite growing buzz, normalized nonlawyer ownership of law firms is a distant prospect, so the legal community should focus first on liberalizing state restrictions on attorney and firm purchases of practices, which would bolster succession planning and improve access to justice, says Michael Di Gennaro at The Law Practice Exchange.

  • Navigating FDA Supply Rule Leeway For Small Dispensers

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    As the November compliance deadline for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's new pharmaceutical distribution supply chain rules draws closer, small dispensers should understand the narrow flexibilities that are available, and the questions to consider before taking advantage of them, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

  • Series

    Solving Puzzles Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Tackling daily puzzles — like Wordle, KenKen and Connections — has bolstered my intellectual property litigation practice by helping me to exercise different mental skills, acknowledge minor but important details, and build and reinforce good habits, says Roy Wepner at Kaplan Breyer.

  • Texas Ethics Opinion Flags Hazards Of Unauthorized Practice

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    The Texas Professional Ethics Committee's recently issued proposed opinion finding that in-house counsel providing legal services to the company's clients constitutes the unauthorized practice of law is a valuable clarification given that a UPL violation — a misdemeanor in most states — carries high stakes, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Julienne Pasichow at HWG.

  • 6 Lessons From DOJ's 1st Controlled Drug Case In Telehealth

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    Following the U.S. Department of Justice’s first-ever criminal prosecution over telehealth-prescribed controlled substances in U.S. v. Ruthia He, healthcare providers should be mindful of the risks associated with restricting the physician-patient relationship when crafting new business models, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Scale Tips Favor Away From HHS Agencies

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    The loss of Chevron deference may indirectly aid parties in challenging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' interpretations of regulations and could immediately influence several pending cases challenging HHS on technical questions and agency authority, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • 2 Options For Sackler Family After High Court Purdue Ruling

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court recently blocked Purdue Pharma's plan to shield the family that owns the company from bankruptcy lawsuits, the Sacklers face the choice to either continue litigation, or return to the bargaining table for a settlement that doesn't eliminate creditor claims, says Gregory Germain at Syracuse University.

  • In Memoriam: The Modern Administrative State

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    On June 28, the modern administrative state, where courts deferred to agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes, died when the U.S. Supreme Court overruled its previous decision in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council — but it is survived by many cases decided under the Chevron framework, say Joseph Schaeffer and Jessica Deyoe at Babst Calland.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Expect Limited Changes In USPTO Rulemaking

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling overturning Chevron deference will have limited consequences for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office given the USPTO's unique statutory features, but it is still an important decision for matters of statutory interpretation, especially those involving provisions of the America Invents Act, say Andrei Iancu and Cooper Godfrey at Sullivan & Cromwell.

  • How High Court Approached Time Limit On Reg Challenges

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Corner Post v. Federal Reserve Board effectively gives new entities their own personal statute of limitations to challenge rules and regulations, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh's concurrence may portend the court's view that those entities do not need to be directly regulated, say attorneys at Snell & Wilmer.

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