Deals & Corporate Governance
-
May 17, 2024
Pfizer Unit Wins $107.5M Patent Verdict Against AstraZeneca
A Delaware federal jury on Friday said that AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP should pay $107.5 million in royalty damages for infringing a Pfizer-brand cancer treatment patent, although a final decision won't be issued until after a bench trial on some of AstraZeneca's additional defenses.
-
May 17, 2024
Steward Health Ch. 11 Lifts Lid On PE In Healthcare
Steward Health's $9 billion Chapter 11 has come under scrutiny from state attorneys general seeking to uncover why a once-rapidly growing hospital network ended up buried in debt, with authorities taking the unusual tack of turning a special eye toward its former private equity owner Cerberus Capital Management, experts told Law360.
-
May 17, 2024
Healthcare Co. Sues Steward In Ch. 11 Over Military Contract
A healthcare company that provides services to members of the military and their families sued debtor Steward Health Care on Thursday in Texas bankruptcy court, asking a judge there to declare that the provider properly terminated a subcontract with Steward due to its declining financial state.
-
May 17, 2024
EndoStim Emerges From Delaware Insolvency Proceeding
Delaware's Court of Chancery has approved the final accounting for medical device company EndoStim Inc.'s state-administered insolvency proceeding after no creditor or other party raised any objections at a final hearing on Friday.
-
May 17, 2024
Cano Health Strikes $7M Deal With Unsecured Creditors
A Delaware bankruptcy judge said Friday that she was prepared to send Cano Health Inc.'s Chapter 11 plan out for a creditor vote after hearing the medical care group has reached a $7 million settlement with its unsecured creditors.
-
May 16, 2024
3rd Circ. Shuns Teva's 'Novel' Appeal On Israeli Investor Class
The Third Circuit on Thursday turned away an appeal brought by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., saying the class certification stage was not the right time to hear arguments over the "novel" question of the applicability of U.S. securities laws to Israeli-listed shares.
-
May 16, 2024
FTC Deputy Director Rao On Healthcare Antitrust Agenda
The reason behind the Federal Trade Commission's changed attitude toward antitrust in healthcare in recent years isn't simple, according to Rahul Rao, deputy director of the FTC's Bureau of Competition.
-
May 16, 2024
Ex-Pharma Exec Cops To Contempt For Barred Finance Work
A Boston federal judge on Thursday accepted a former pharmaceutical company executive's guilty plea to a criminal contempt charge for using an alias to work on a finance venture despite a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ban.
-
May 16, 2024
$5.5M Apotex Generic Drug Price-Fixing Deal Gets Initial OK
A Pennsylvania federal judge gave preliminary approval to yet another settlement in the sweeping generic drug price-fixing multidistrict litigation, this time signing off on pharmaceutical company Apotex's $5.5 million settlement with clinics, hospitals and independent pharmacies.
-
May 15, 2024
UnitedHealth Concealed DOJ Merger Investigation, Suit Says
UnitedHealth Group has been hit with a proposed shareholder class action alleging that it failed to disclose that the U.S. Department of Justice had reopened an antitrust investigation into the health insurance giant following its acquisition of a healthcare data company, and that top executives had sold more than $120 million of shares knowing about the investigation before a news report revealed it to the public.
-
May 15, 2024
Data On Harm Intrigues Pa. Justices In Hospital Closure Spat
While tasked with considering how much deference appellate panels must give trial courts in matters involving preliminary injunctions, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Wednesday was equally curious about whether one such injunction needed to be supported by data showing that a hospital's closure would irrevocably hurt a Delaware County community.
-
May 14, 2024
Healthcare Deals This Week: AbbVie, Takeda And More
From a research collaboration focused on obesity management to blockbuster collaboration deals that included names like AbbVie, Takeda and Sanofi, it was a busy week for the healthcare industry this past week.
-
May 14, 2024
Holland Adds Healthcare Transactions Partner In Chicago
Holland & Knight on Tuesday announced the arrival of attorney John Saran on its healthcare transactions team, who joins after nine years at Ropes & Gray LLP.
-
May 14, 2024
Vein Tech Maker Faces Investor Suit Over DOJ Kickback Probe
Vein disease device maker Inari Medical Inc. and three of its current and former executives face a proposed investor class action over claims that the company's share price fell after it disclosed an investigation into its compliance with federal anti-kickback laws.
-
May 14, 2024
Healthcare Labor Activity Reaches Historic Healthcare Union
Surging union activity in the healthcare industry has reached a new front: employees of the nation's largest healthcare union.
-
May 14, 2024
FTC Cleared To Sue Texas Anesthesia Co., But Not PE Firm
A Texas federal judge highlighted the limits of the Federal Trade Commission's ability to go after private equity firms accused of anti-competitive "roll-up" strategies, tossing antitrust claims against a private equity firm while preserving monopolization allegations against the anesthesia group the firm created.
-
May 13, 2024
Biogen Investors Seek Class Cert. In Alzheimer's Drug Suit
A proposed class of Biogen shareholders urged a Massachusetts federal court to certify their now-revived class action alleging the drugmaker made misleading statements about a deficient Alzheimer's drug, arguing it can sufficiently lead the suit with Block & Leviton LLP as class counsel.
-
May 13, 2024
2nd Circ. Affirms Dismissal Of Bystolic Antitrust Suit
The Second Circuit issued its first decision under the high court's Actavis "pay for delay" ruling on Monday, affirming the dismissal of a case alleging that an AbbVie predecessor delayed competition for its hypertension treatment Bystolic through deals with several generic makers.
-
May 13, 2024
Ex-Police Chief Gets 3 Months For Alexion Insider Trading
The former police chief of a town in Massachusetts was sentenced Monday to three months in prison after pleading guilty to trading on confidential information about a pending Alexion Pharmaceuticals merger that he said was provided by a "lifelong friend."
-
May 10, 2024
Atty Says Panoramic Fired Her For Raising Compliance Issues
Panoramic Health faces a wrongful termination suit filed Thursday in Colorado federal court by its former assistant general counsel who claims she was fired after raising concerns about its alleged noncompliance with federal anti-kickback statutes and regulations over its federally funded kidney care contracting program.
-
May 09, 2024
Masimo Makes Offer To End Activist Politan's Proxy Contest
Medical technology company Masimo Corp. revealed Thursday that it is willing to appoint one of the director nominees put forth by activist investment firm Politan Capital Management LP in exchange for the company dropping its proxy fight, though Politan signaled distaste with the proposed deal.
-
May 09, 2024
DOJ Task Force To Target Healthcare Monopoly, Collusion
The U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division sharpened its focus Thursday on healthcare platforms that combine doctors with insurers, data and more in what the administration's top competition official called the "alarming" accumulation of assets.
-
May 09, 2024
Hospital REIT Sees $736M Loss After Tenant's Ch. 11 Filing
Medical Properties Trust, a healthcare real estate investment trust, lost $736 million in the first quarter of the year from the financial collapse of Steward Health Care, a major tenant, and the write-off of an international joint venture, executives said on May 9.
-
May 08, 2024
Shockwave Medical Investor Challenges $13B Deal With J&J
A shareholder of cardiovascular treatment company Shockwave Medical Inc. is attempting to halt the company's "unfair" $13 billion proposed transaction with Johnson & Johnson by filing a securities suit, saying the transaction will only benefit company insiders and damage public shareholders.
-
May 07, 2024
Novant CEO Vows To Improve Hospitals Facing FTC Scrutiny
Novant Health kicked off its defense Tuesday in the Federal Trade Commission's $320 million merger challenge with testimony from its longtime CEO, who vocalized the health system's promise to reinvest in the two struggling hospitals at the center of the case.
Meet The Atty-Turned-Investor Focused On Women's Health
Before stepping into her current role as a lead partner at women's health-focused investment firm Portfolia, O'Rourke was a partner at Goodwin Procter LLP, where she was chair of the firm's women's health and wellness industry practice. O'Rourke spoke with Law360 about how a background steeped in assessing risk informs her investment thesis.
What Walmart Health's Shutdown May Mean For Retail Clinics
In the wake of major closure announcements by Walgreens and Walmart, some experts see signs of a larger retreat in brick-and-mortar healthcare clinics as retailers are buffeted by high overhead fees, failed expansion plans and complex business models.
Healthcare Attys Turn Attention To Material Adverse Change
Life sciences companies are focusing on a specific clause in M&A contracts to prevent unexpected disruptions from tanking deals, according to attorneys working on transactions in the healthcare industry.
Expert Analysis
-
Feds' Biotech Enforcement Efforts Are Too Heavy-Handed
The U.S. Department of Justice's recent actions against biotech companies untether the Anti-Kickback Statute from its original legislative purpose, and threaten to stifle innovation and undermine patient quality of care, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
-
Del. Ruling Highlights M&A Deal Adviser Conflict Disclosures
The Delaware Supreme Court recently reversed the Court of Chancery's dismissal of challenges to Nordic Capital's acquisition of Inovalon, demonstrating the importance of full disclosure of financial adviser conflicts when a going-private merger seeks business judgment rule review, say attorneys at Debevoise.
-
A Recipe For Growth Equity Investing In A Slow M&A Market
Carl Marcellino at Ropes & Gray discusses the factors bolstering appetite for growth equity fundraising in a depressed M&A market, and walks through the deal terms and other ingredients that set growth equity transactions apart from bread-and-butter venture capital investing.
-
PE-Healthcare Mergers Should Prepare For Challenges
State and federal regulators are increasingly imposing new requirements on healthcare transactions involving private equity partners, with mergers that would have drawn little scrutiny a few years ago now requiring a multijurisdictional risk analysis during the deal formation process, say attorneys at Stinson.
-
Behind Indiana's Broad New Healthcare Transactions Law
The high materiality threshold in Indiana's recently passed healthcare transaction law, coupled with the inclusion of private equity in its definition of healthcare entities, makes it one of the broadest state review regulations to date, say attorneys at DLA Piper.
-
Highlights From The 2024 ABA Antitrust Spring Meeting
U.S. merger enforcement and cartels figured heavily in this year's American Bar Association spring antitrust meeting, where one key takeaway included news that the Federal Trade Commission's anticipated changes to the Hart-Scott-Rodino form may be less dramatic than many originally feared, say attorneys at Freshfields.
-
The Merger Cases That Will Matter At ABA Antitrust Meeting
While the American Bar Association's Antitrust Spring Meeting this week will cover all types of competition law issues in the U.S. and abroad, expect the federal agencies' recent track record in merger enforcement to be a key area of focus on the official panels and in cocktail party chatter, say attorneys at Freshfields.
-
Planning For Healthcare-Private Equity Antitrust Enforcement
U.S. antitrust agency developments could mean potential enforcement actions on healthcare-related acquisitions by private equity funds are on the way, and entities operating in this space should follow a series of practice tips, including early assessment of antitrust risks on both the state and federal level, say Ryan Quillian and John Kendrick at Covington.
-
Why Oncology Deal Making Continues To Fuel Biotech M&A
The biotech sector's potential for advancements in cancer care continues to attract deal-maker interest, and the keys to successful mergers and acquisitions include the ability to integrate innovative therapies, leverage technological advancements and respond to the dynamic needs of patients, say Bryan Luchs and Mike Weir at White & Case.
-
Tips For Healthcare M&A Amid Heightened Antitrust Scrutiny
As the Biden administration maintains its aggressive approach to antitrust merger enforcement, prudent healthcare M&A counsel will consider practical advice when contemplating their next transaction, including carefully selecting a merger partner and preparing for a potentially long waiting period prior to closing, say attorneys at Davis Wright.
-
Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents
Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.
-
5 Trends To Watch As Value-Based Healthcare Gains Steam
Value-based care has grown and evolved as healthcare providers, payors and policymakers seek to improve patient results while containing costs, and this shift in the industry is expected to accelerate in the near future, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.
-
What's At Play In Rising Lanham Act Cases At The ITC
Amid an uptick in Lanham Act claims involving false advertising related to medical devices at the U.S. International Trade Commission, Brian Busey and Maryrose McLaughlin at MoFo discuss recent ITC complaints from Eli Lilly and R.J. Reynolds, Lanham Act claim limits under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and the issues practitioners face in this realm.