Life Sciences

  • May 21, 2026

    Legislative Update: Cannabis And Psychedelics Bill Roundup

    Virginia's governor vetoed legislation to establish adult-use marijuana sales, keeping the state in cannabis legal limbo; Illinois lawmakers introduced legislation to rein in hemp products, aligning state policy with an upcoming shift in federal law; and Louisiana lawmakers sent a bill to the governor that would allow terminally ill patients to access medical marijuana in healthcare facilities. Here are the major moves in cannabis and psychedelics legislation from the past week.

  • May 21, 2026

    BigLaw Deals Scandal Puts Boston Back On White Collar Map

    A sweeping insider trading case involving information stolen from BigLaw firms shows a return to bread-and-butter white collar enforcement for Boston federal prosecutors and provides a morale lift in an office that has seen shifting priorities and staff turnover since the signature "Varsity Blues" takedown in 2019, veteran prosecutors told Law360.

  • May 21, 2026

    Immunity Bid Can't Stop Discovery In THC Abuse Registry Suit

    There's little chance that the Idaho state health director can ditch litigation by mothers challenging the automatic placement of women on the child abuse registry for prenatal THC use, a federal judge said after taking a "preliminary peek" at the state's pending motion to dismiss.

  • May 21, 2026

    Amgen Wants To Preserve Right To Seek Double Tax Relief

    Drugmaker Amgen wants to preserve its right to seek a refund for tax years 2010 through 2015 if the IRS "persists" in taking a position inconsistent with the agency's own arguments pertaining to those years in its audit of 2016 to 2018, the company told the U.S. Tax Court.

  • May 21, 2026

    Texas Comptroller Tells 5th Circ. To Toss E-Cig Ban Suit

    The acting comptroller for Texas is asking the Fifth Circuit to overturn an order allowing vape companies and a trade association to pursue a suit challenging a state law banning e-cigarette products that use liquids from China and other "adversaries," saying the comptroller is entitled to sovereign immunity.

  • May 21, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Backs Lupin Win In Generic Kidney Drug Case

    The Federal Circuit on Thursday affirmed a Delaware federal judge's ruling that Indian generic-drug maker Lupin's version of the kidney disease drug Jynarque does not infringe two patents held by Japanese rival Otsuka.

  • May 21, 2026

    AmeriHealth Unit, PBM Sued Over Prescription Claim Fees

    Two Philadelphia pharmacies have filed a proposed class action against AmeriHealth Caritas Health Plan and its in-house pharmacy benefits manager, PerformRx LLC, claiming the companies violate Pennsylvania law by not disclosing "transmission fees" at the time a claim is run through the pharmacies' computers, according to a complaint removed to federal court.

  • May 21, 2026

    Zantac Cases To Proceed During Appeal Of Recusal Denial

    The Philadelphia judge overseeing the city's Zantac cancer mass tort will not halt proceedings while Keller Postman LLC appeals his refusal to recuse himself from the litigation on the basis that his wife works at Blank Rome LLP, which represents a pharmaceutical company in one of the 550 cases.

  • May 20, 2026

    Prof. Hired By J&J In 1970s Found Asbestos In Talc, Jury Told

    A former Johnson & Johnson toxicologist could not find evidence his employer turned over a report to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that "unmistakably" found asbestos in the company's talc, according to a video deposition shown Wednesday to a California jury considering bellwether claims over three women's deadly ovarian cancer.

  • May 20, 2026

    DOJ, Drugmakers Spar After Justices Snub 6 Negotiation Suits

    The U.S. Department of Justice is trying to have it both ways in drug pricing litigation, telling the U.S. Supreme Court not to intervene before additional circuits decide pending challenges and then using this week's nonintervention as ammunition against those challenges, drugmakers are arguing at appeals courts.

  • May 20, 2026

    Minnesota Jury Awards $10.2M In Talc Mesothelioma Trial

    A Minnesota state jury has delivered a $10.2 million verdict to a married couple in their suit against Vi-Jon LLC and the makers of other talc products like Johnson & Johnson and Gold Bond in which they alleged the 45-year-old husband's mesothelioma was caused by exposure to body powder products.

  • May 20, 2026

    2nd Circ. Skeptical Of Bid To Boost Drug Royalty Award

    A Second Circuit panel appeared unsympathetic during oral arguments on Wednesday to Acorda Therapeutics Inc.'s assertion that it should be awarded nearly $66 million beyond the $16.5 million it won in a multiple sclerosis drug dispute, with one judge remarking that the company is "kind of in the soup" because it chose arbitration.

  • May 20, 2026

    1st Circ. Allows Transfer Of RI Youth Care Info To Texas Court

    The First Circuit declined to halt a Texas federal court's order requiring a Rhode Island hospital to hand over records detailing its provision of gender-affirming care to minors, finding a Rhode Island agency failed to demonstrate that doing so would cause children in the state irreparable harm.

  • May 20, 2026

    Refusing Sandoz Parent Dismissal 'Clear Error,' Court Told

    Sandoz's Swiss parent company wants a Pennsylvania federal judge to rethink her decision forcing it to face generic drug price-fixing claims from major employers like General Motors, arguing the court "conflates" Novartis AG with Sandoz AG, which was spun off in 2023.

  • May 20, 2026

    Eli Lilly Loses Bid To Limit Ex-FDA Chief's Take In GLP-1 MDL

    A Pennsylvania federal judge said Eli Lilly & Co. and plaintiffs in multidistrict litigation accusing it of downplaying side effects of weight loss drugs were talking past each other in a dispute over expert testimony, denying Eli Lilly's bid to limit the opinions of the plaintiffs' expert to those disclosed in his report.

  • May 20, 2026

    Tiversa Escapes LabMD's Final Defamation Claims

    A defunct cancer screening lab cannot show that a cybersecurity firm CEO had "actual malice" when he made allegedly defamatory statements about a file of private health info being "exposed," "leaked" and "publicly available" nearly 20 years ago, a federal magistrate ruled in dismissing a long-running lawsuit Tuesday.

  • May 20, 2026

    Eli Lilly Paying Up To $202M In Genetic Medicine Deal

    Eli Lilly and Co. has agreed to acquire privately held Engage Biologics Inc., which is developing a delivery technology for genetic medicines, in a deal worth up to $202 million, Cooley LLP-advised Engage announced Wednesday.

  • May 20, 2026

    Intellia Drops Counterclaims In Gene-Editing Patent Case

    Intellia Therapeutics Inc. has agreed to drop a set of claims it asserted in a Delaware federal suit brought by BlueAllele, which accused it of infringing three gene-editing patents to bring in $100 million in a deal with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals.

  • May 20, 2026

    Squires Institutes 5 Patent Reviews, Rejects 7 Others

    U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires on Tuesday granted five requests for review of patents under the America Invents Act while turning down seven other petitions.

  • May 20, 2026

    FTC 'Close' To Final PBM Insulin Price Deal With OptumRx

    Federal Trade Commission staffers have signaled that they're near a settlement with UnitedHealth Group Inc.'s OptumRx that would close out the agency's in-house case accusing pharmacy benefit managers of inflating insulin prices through rebate schemes.

  • May 19, 2026

    Quinn Emanuel Owes More Sanctions In Guardant Fight

    Quinn Emanuel and its team representing medical testing company Natera will shoulder further sanctions on top of the $3 million already imposed over the firm's misrepresentations concerning an expert witness in Guardant Health's false advertising case, a California federal judge ruled Tuesday.

  • May 19, 2026

    Monsanto To Pay Mich., RI Up To $302M Over PCB Pollution

    Monsanto has reached multimillion-dollar deals with Michigan and Rhode Island to end claims that the company contaminated waterways and natural resources with polychlorinated biphenyls, agreeing to pay the states as much as $240 million and $62 million, respectively, with most of that money contingent on how the company recovers from separate lawsuits.

  • May 19, 2026

    Toxicologist Denies J&J Wanted To 'Control' Talc Study

    A former Johnson & Johnson toxicologist denied the company controlled a 1970s study of talc miners by insisting "you do not control" people like the professor behind the study, in a video deposition shown Tuesday to a California jury considering bellwether claims the company's talc products caused deadly ovarian cancer in three women.

  • May 19, 2026

    Calif. Urges 9th Circ. To Revive Pay-For-Delay Restrictions

    California urged a Ninth Circuit panel Tuesday to find a Golden State law that bans drugmakers from cutting deals out of state that pay to delay generics competition doesn't violate the U.S. Constitution, arguing that ruling otherwise could jeopardize many longstanding state laws that regulate out-of-state conduct.

  • May 19, 2026

    Apple's Fed. Circ. Review Bid Gets Support In Watch Ban Feud

    Technology industry groups and an organization that often files patent challenges have thrown their support behind Apple's fight against a Federal Circuit panel's finding that the U.S. International Trade Commission properly banned imports of Apple Watches with blood oxygen-monitoring features.

Expert Analysis

  • Key False Claims Act Trends From The Last Year

    Author Photo

    The False Claims Act remains a powerful enforcement tool after some record verdicts and settlements in 2025, and while traditional fraud areas remain a priority, new initiatives are raising questions about its expanding application, says Veronica Nannis at Joseph Greenwald.

  • Opinion

    It's Too Soon To Remove Suicide Warnings From GLP-1 Drugs

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's decision this month to order removal of warnings about the risk of suicidal thoughts from GLP-1 weight-loss drugs is premature — and from a safety and legal standpoint, the downside of acting too soon could be profound, says Sean Domnick at Rafferty Domnick.

  • Series

    Hosting Exchange Students Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    Opening my home to foreign exchange students makes me a better lawyer not just because prioritizing visiting high schoolers forces me to hone my organization and time management skills but also because sharing the study-abroad experience with newcomers and locals reconnects me to my community, says Alison Lippa at Nicolaides Fink.

  • FDA's 2025 Enforcement Scorecard Highlights Data Focus

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's increased enforcement activity in 2025 was driven by artificial intelligence and a focus on foreign manufacturers, necessitating proactive compliance strategies for an environment that is increasingly reliant on data, say attorneys at Reed Smith.

  • How A 1947 Tugboat Ruling May Shape Work Product In AI Era

    Author Photo

    Rapid advances in generative artificial intelligence test work-product principles first articulated in the U.S. Supreme Court’s nearly 80-year-old Hickman v. Taylor decision, as courts and ethics bodies confront whether disclosure of attorneys’ AI prompts and outputs would reveal their thought processes, say Larry Silver and Sasha Burton at Langsam Stevens.

  • Navigating Privilege Law Patchwork In Dual-Purpose Comms

    Author Photo

    Three years after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to resolve a circuit split in In re: Grand Jury, federal courts remain split as to when attorney-client privilege applies to dual-purpose legal and business communications, and understanding the fragmented landscape is essential for managing risks, say attorneys at Covington.

  • How AI Drafting Should Transform Patent Filing Strategies

    Author Photo

    As agentic artificial intelligence reduces the time and expense required to draft and file patents, companies should shift focus away from rationing drafting hours and more toward governing optionality, says Ian Schick at Paximal.

  • 5 Advertising Law Trends That Will Shape 2026

    Author Photo

    The legal landscape for advertisers will grow only more complex this year, with ongoing trends including a federal regulatory retreat, more aggressive action by the states, a focus on child privacy and expanded scrutiny of "natural" claims, say attorneys at Reed Smith.

  • Cannabis Industry Faces An Inflection Point This Year

    Author Photo

    Cannabis industry developments last year — from the passage of a new wholesale tax in Michigan, to an executive order accelerating the federal rescheduling process — presage a more mature phase of legalization this year, with hardening expectations and enforcement to come, says Alex Leonowicz at Howard & Howard.

  • Series

    Fly-Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    Much like skilled attorneys, the best anglers prize preparation, presentation and patience while respecting their adversaries — both human and trout, says Rob Braverman at Braverman Greenspun.

  • 4 Ways GCs Can Manage Growing Service Of Process Volume

    Author Photo

    As automation and arbitration increase the volume of legal filings, in-house counsel must build scalable service of process systems that strengthen corporate governance and manage risk in real time, says Paul Mathews at Corporation Service Co.

  • Series

    The Law Firm Merger Diaries: Forming Measurable Ties

    Author Photo

    Relationship-building should begin as early as possible in a law firm merger, as intentional pathways to bringing people together drive collaboration, positive client response, engagements and growth, says Amie Colby at Troutman.

  • AG Watch: Va. Insulin Price Probe Signals Rising Scrutiny

    Author Photo

    Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares' recent investigation into insulin manufacturers and pharmacy benefit managers for allegedly colluding to artificially inflate insulin prices reflects a broader trend to leverage consumer protection authority in high-impact healthcare matters, and the upcoming leadership change is unlikely to diminish scrutiny in this area, says Chuck Slemp at Cozen O'Connor.

  • FDA's AI Deployment Brings New Potential And Risks

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's recent announcement about making agentic artificial intelligence tools available to agency employees may portend accelerated regulatory timelines and lower costs for drug companies and consumers, but potential errors and biases will necessitate additional safeguards, says Angela Silva at Lewis Brisbois.

  • 3 Key Takeaways From Planned Rescheduling Of Cannabis

    Author Photo

    An executive order reviving cannabis rescheduling represents a monumental change for the industry and, while the substance will remain illegal at the federal level, introduces several benefits, including improving state-legal cannabis operators' tax treatment, lowering the industry's legal risk profile, and leaving state-regulated markets largely intact, say attorneys at Dentons.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Life Sciences archive.