Life Sciences

  • November 04, 2024

    Whistleblowers Win Cut Of Medical Kickback Settlement

    Three whistleblowers who tipped off the federal government to a medical device company's multimillion-dollar kickback scheme are entitled to a cut of the $3 million in False Claims Act settlements paid by surgeons who admitted participating in the sham consulting ploy, a Boston federal judge ruled Monday.

  • November 04, 2024

    Sanctions Lessened Against Testing Co. That 'Duped' Judge

    A California federal judge Monday lessened sanctions imposed on Natera Inc. in a false advertising case first brought by rival Guardant Health Inc., allowing some clinical cancer study evidence to be presented at a trial starting Tuesday despite his earlier finding that Natera's expert and counsel had "duped" the court.

  • November 04, 2024

    Startup Beats $460M Cancer Trade Secrets Case In Delaware

    In front of a federal jury in Delaware, a California biotech startup has defeated a nearly $460 million trade secrets case from a rival that claimed the startup's co-founder helped himself to confidential information regarding cancer treatment antibodies while employed as an expert in an unrelated international arbitration proceeding.

  • November 04, 2024

    Del. Judge To Approve Avante Ch. 11 Financing

    A Delaware bankruptcy judge Monday agreed to approve debtor-in-possession financing for Jordan Health, the corporate parent of medical equipment service provider Avante Health, after the debtor and DIP lender struck a deal with the official committee of unsecured creditors.

  • November 04, 2024

    Cigna Scores $7.3M Verdict Against Fla. Drug Testing Labs

    A Connecticut federal jury on Monday handed Cigna Health and Life Insurance Co. a victory against three Florida boutique drug testing laboratories, finding the labs unjustly billed nearly $7.3 million for tests on substance abuse patients that the insurer declared medically unnecessary.

  • November 04, 2024

    Late New Evidence Can't Revive Investor Suit, Judge Says

    A Massachusetts federal judge has declined to vacate the dismissal of an investor class action alleging that a hearing loss treatment company and some of its executives concealed disappointing clinical trial results, saying the plaintiff "is playing fast and loose with the Rules of Civil Procedure," and trying to blame the court and the clerk for his own procedural missteps.

  • November 04, 2024

    Yale Gets 2nd Circ. Win In COVID Test Reimbursement Row

    A Connecticut medical practice can't sue Yale University under federal legislation enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic to recover the $1.1 million it said it incurred while providing COVID testing to university health plan members, the Second Circuit ruled Monday, finding no private cause of action existed.

  • November 04, 2024

    Errors Lower Fee Award For Athira Pharma Investors' Counsel

    A Seattle federal judge has awarded $2 million in attorney fees to four firms that represented a class of Athira Pharma investors following a $10 million settlement over allegations the company's former CEO manipulated Alzheimer's drug studies, trimming the 25% fee award the firms sought due to an "overall lack of success in this litigation."

  • November 04, 2024

    NJ Judge Blocks Sun Pharma From Launching Hair Loss Drug

    A New Jersey federal judge has blocked for now Sun Pharmaceutical Industries from launching a product meant to treat hair loss in the U.S., handing Incyte a win in its patent infringement lawsuit against the India-based company.

  • November 04, 2024

    Sandoz Wins $70M In Antitrust Suit Over Hypertension Drug

    A New Jersey federal court awarded Sandoz Inc. just over $70 million in damages in a case accusing biopharmaceutical firm United Therapeutics Corp. of blocking the sale of a generic version of a hypertension medication, according to a Friday order.

  • November 04, 2024

    Federal Trade Commission Atty Returns To Katten In DC

    An attorney who spent more than a decade at the Federal Trade Commission has returned to private practice at Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, where he began his legal career, boosting the firm's offerings for clients as they navigate increased antitrust scrutiny and enforcement. 

  • November 04, 2024

    US IPO Activity Hits Standstill As Election Takes Center Stage

    U.S. initial public offerings have screeched to a halt amid peak election season, and dealmakers expect new listings to largely remain iced until next year as market participants sort out ramifications of Tuesday's presidential and congressional contests.

  • November 01, 2024

    Medisca Inks $22M FCA Deal Over Ingredient Pricing Scheme

    Pharmaceutical chemical supplier Medisca Inc. has agreed to pay $21.75 million to resolve allegations it created false and inflated average wholesale prices for ingredients used in compound prescriptions sold to pharmacies that increased reimbursement and caused federal healthcare programs to pay more for them, the U.S. Department of Justice announced on Friday.

  • November 01, 2024

    UChicago Must Face Student's Disability Discrimination Claim

    A University of Chicago medical student who was dismissed for creating a fake email account to send an instructor evaluations can pursue his claim that the university illegally tied his multiple mental and physical disabilities to his dismissal, but he must drop his claim that the university failed to accommodate those disabilities, an Illinois federal judge said Thursday.

  • November 01, 2024

    Jury To Decide Timing Issue In Insulin Patch Trade Secret Row

    A Massachusetts federal judge has refused to trim some allegations in Insulet Corp.'s suit alleging that a South Korean insulin pump patch manufacturer stole trade secrets, while finding that a jury needs to decide when the clock started to tick on a federal trade secrets claim.

  • November 01, 2024

    Taxation With Representation: Kirkland, Davis Polk, Wachtell

    In this week's Taxation with Representation, BC Partners sells its majority equity interest in GardaWorld, Lone Star Funds sells specialty chemicals company AOC to Nippon Paint Holdings, Crescent Biopharma takes GlycoMimetics private, and Francisco Partners buys AdvancedMD from Global Payments.

  • November 01, 2024

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

    This past week in London has seen two industry magnates take on the Gambling Commission, Ordinance Survey hit with a claim from a Swiss GPS maker, and China's largest oil company PetroChina face a claim from a Polish documentary maker. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • November 01, 2024

    Up To $755M Added To AZ Scuttled-Drug Damage Claim In Del.

    A stockholder representative for former shareholders of biopharmaceutical company Syntimmune has proposed up to $755 million in additional damages after a Delaware vice chancellor found that an AstraZeneca PLC unit failed to reasonably pursue drug development milestones after acquiring Syntimmune in 2018.

  • November 01, 2024

    4 States To Vote On Expanding Cannabis Or Psychedelics

    On Tuesday, voters in Florida, North Dakota and South Dakota will decide whether to legalize cannabis for adult recreational use, while Massachusetts — where marijuana is already fully legal — will decide whether to decriminalize and regulate certain psychedelics.

  • October 31, 2024

    Judge 'Duped' By BigLaw Attys Urged To Preserve Sanctions

    Guardant Health urged a California federal judge Thursday to reject a request from Natera's Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP attorneys to lessen sanctions barring clinical trial evidence in Guardant's false advertising case, noting the court said it had been "duped" by false and misleading statements from Natera's expert and counsel.

  • October 31, 2024

    IP Forecast: Another Apple Watch Trial Kicks Off In California

    Apple and Masimo will face off next week in their long-running feud over whether the tech giant misappropriated Masimo's trade secrets for some of the health-monitoring features used in newer versions of the Apple Watch. Here's a spotlight on that case — plus all the other major intellectual property matters on deck in the coming week.

  • October 31, 2024

    NY Court Urged To Reject 'Audacious' Shareholder Test Cases

    Leading business groups have come to the aid of Bayer AG and Barclays PLC as the companies seek to fend off a pair of "audacious" test cases that have landed in New York's highest court, with the groups arguing that allowing the lawsuits to move forward would flood the state court with derivative lawsuits against foreign companies and overturn decades of precedent.

  • October 31, 2024

    CVS Unit Exec's Ex-Partner Charged With Insider Trading

    The former domestic partner of a top executive at Oak Street Health Inc., a primary care provider network owned by CVS Health Corp., was charged in Philadelphia federal court Thursday with insider trading on advance information about CVS' $10.6 billion deal to buy Oak Street in 2023.

  • October 31, 2024

    Drug Cos. To Pay $49M For State-Led Generic Pricing Claims

    A contingent of state-level enforcers reached settlements totaling $49.1 million on Thursday with Heritage Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Apotex Corp. for their alleged part in a wide-ranging conspiracy to inflate the price of generic drugs.

  • October 31, 2024

    Masimo Sues Ex-CEO Over 'Unprecedented' $450M Demand

    Masimo Corp. has sued its founder in Delaware Chancery Court, seeking a declaration that a $450 million payout triggered in part by the founder's loss of control or his ouster as CEO and chairman is unenforceable, saying the amount is "unprecedented" and shouldn't be paid by shareholders who were simply exercising their voting rights.

Expert Analysis

  • Patent Lessons From 7 Federal Circuit Reversals In August

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    The Federal Circuit’s seven vacated or reversed cases from August provide helpful clarity on obviousness-type double patenting, written description and indefiniteness, and suggest improved practices for petitioners and patent owners in inter partes review, say Denise De Mory and Li Guo at Bunsow De Mory.

  • Use The Right Kind Of Feedback To Help Gen Z Attorneys

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    Generation Z associates bring unique perspectives and expectations to the workplace, so it’s imperative that supervising attorneys adapt their feedback approach in order to help young lawyers learn and grow — which is good for law firms, too, says Rachael Bosch at Fringe Professional Development.

  • Opinion

    Congress Can And Must Enact A Supreme Court Ethics Code

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    As public confidence in the U.S. Supreme Court dips to historic lows following reports raising conflict of interest concerns, Congress must exercise its constitutional power to enact a mandatory and enforceable code of ethics for the high court, says Muhammad Faridi, president of the New York City Bar Association.

  • Perspectives

    Pop Culture Docket: Justice Lebovits On Gilbert And Sullivan

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    Characters in the 19th century comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan break the rules of good lawyering by shamelessly throwing responsible critical thought to the wind, providing hilarious lessons for lawyers and judges on how to avoid a surfeit of traps and tribulations, say acting New York Supreme Court Justice Gerald Lebovits and law student Tara Scown.

  • New HHS Research Misconduct Rules Bring Seismic Changes

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    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' new rule regarding research misconduct investigations brings significant changes that focus on remediation, appeals and confidentiality, while other changes could result in institutions causing undue harm to scientists accused of such misconduct, say attorneys at Cohen Seglias.

  • State Of The States' AI Legal Ethics Landscape

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    Over the past year, several state bar associations, as well as the American Bar Association, have released guidance on the ethical use of artificial intelligence in legal practice, all of which share overarching themes and some nuanced differences, say Eric Pacifici and Kevin Henderson at SMB Law Group.

  • How Biden Admin Has Used Antitrust Tools, And What's Next

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    The last four years have been marked by an aggressive whole-of-government approach to antitrust enforcement using a broad range of tools, and may result in lasting change regardless of the upcoming presidential election result, say attorneys at Norton Rose.

  • Defining All-Risk: Despite $30M Loss, Loose Bolt Not 'Damage'

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    A Massachusetts federal court’s recent ruling in AMAG Pharmaceuticals v. American Guarantee and Liability Insurance Co., denying coverage for $30 million in damages claimed when a loose bolt caused an air leak, highlights an ongoing debate over the definition of “direct physical loss or damage,” say Josh Tumen and Paul Ferland at Cozen O'Connor.

  • The Shifting Role Of Patent Attorneys In The Age Of AI

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    The integration of artificial intelligence into patent drafting represents a significant change in how legal work is performed, and patent attorneys must shift from manual drafting to a strategy-oriented approach, says Ian Schick at Draft Builders.

  • 8 Childhood Lessons That Can Help You Be A Better Attorney

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    A new school year is underway, marking a fitting time for attorneys to reflect on some fundamental life lessons from early childhood that offer a framework for problems that no legal textbook can solve, say Chris Gismondi and Chris Campbell at DLA Piper.

  • Opinion

    This Election, We Need To Talk About Court Process

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    In recent decades, the U.S. Supreme Court has markedly transformed judicial processes — from summary judgment standards to notice pleadings — which has, in turn, affected individuals’ substantive rights, and we need to consider how the upcoming presidential election may continue this pattern, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • A Look At The PTAB's Assessment Of Prior Art Exceptions

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    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board's approach over the last 10 years to assessing Section 102(b) prior art exceptions reveals a few trends, including that evidence of common ownership may have a higher likelihood of successfully disqualifying prior art under Section 102(b)(2)(C) at the institution stage, say Louis Panzica and David Holman at Sterne Kessler.

  • Series

    Playing Diplomacy Makes Us Better Lawyers

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    Similar to the practice of law, the rules of Diplomacy — a strategic board game set in pre-World War I Europe — are neither concise nor without ambiguity, and weekly gameplay with our colleagues has revealed the game's practical applications to our work as attorneys, say Jason Osborn and Ben Bevilacqua at Winston & Strawn.

  • How Patent Litigation Is Changing Amid Decline In Filings

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    Marked by a notable decline in case filings and preferred venue shifts, patent litigation has undergone significant changes over the last decade and litigation hot spots have shifted, encouraging a more strategic approach to patent disputes, says Saishruti Mutneja at Winston & Strawn.

  • Mental Health First Aid: A Brief Primer For Attorneys

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    Amid a growing body of research finding that attorneys face higher rates of mental illness than the general population, firms should consider setting up mental health first aid training programs to help lawyers assess mental health challenges in their colleagues and intervene with compassion, say psychologists Shawn Healy and Tracey Meyers.

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