Deals & Corporate Governance
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March 25, 2024
Judge Probes If $54M Deal Will Affect Tehum Care Ch. 11 Plan
A Texas bankruptcy judge Monday mulled if approving a settlement for prison health care company Tehum Care Services Inc. will lock in releases for a future Chapter 11 plan at the third day of a trial asking him to confirm the deal or toss the "Texas two-step" bankruptcy.
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March 25, 2024
Paul Weiss-Led AbbVie Inks Up To $212M Deal For Landos Bio
AbbVie Inc., represented by Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP, said Monday it will pay up to $212.5 million for Cooley LLP-led Landos Biopharma Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing treatments for autoimmune diseases.
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March 25, 2024
Vidal Vacates Denials Of Challenges To Neo Wireless IP
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director Kathi Vidal has thrown out Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions not to review whether Neo Wireless patents are invalid in challenges brought by Honda and others.
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March 25, 2024
Novo Nordisk Inks $1.1B Deal For German Pharma Biz
Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk A/S said Monday it has signed a deal to acquire Cardior Pharmaceuticals of Germany for just over €1 billion ($1.1 billion) to widen its focus on cardiovascular diseases.
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March 25, 2024
7th Circ. Affirms Co. Can't Get $3.5M Software Deduction
A healthcare company that helps nursing homes buy equipment is not entitled to $3.5 million in tax deductions meant for domestic software production, the Seventh Circuit ruled, saying the company failed to meet the threshold for the break because it didn't actually provide software to customers.
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March 25, 2024
Kirkland Guides Ingersoll Rand On $2.3B ILC Dover Buy
Kirkland & Ellis LLP is representing Ingersoll Rand on a new agreement to buy ILC Dover from private equity firm New Mountain Capital for more than $2.3 billion, part of Ingersoll's plan to bolster its life sciences business, the industrial products company said Monday.
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March 22, 2024
Expert's Sanctions Off Limits In SEC's 'Shadow Trading' Trial
A California federal judge overseeing a "shadow trading" trial starting Monday against a pharmaceutical executive ruled that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission can't introduce banking sanctions evidence against the defendant's mergers and acquisitions expert as long as he doesn't give opinions on securities law.
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March 22, 2024
Pharma Co. Brass Overhyped ALS Drug Efficacy, Suit Says
Executives and directors of neurodegenerative disease drugmaker Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics have been hit with a proposed class action alleging they damaged the company by overstating the effectiveness of its Lou Gehrig's disease drug even after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration rejected its license application.
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March 22, 2024
NJ Appeals Court Shuts Down Fired White Worker's Bias Suit
A New Jersey appeals court backed a life sciences company's win in a former manager's suit claiming she was unlawfully fired for posting statistics about police violence on social media following the 2020 murder of George Floyd, ruling she hadn't shown the company discriminated against white workers.
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March 21, 2024
CymaBay Investor Sues For Books On $4.3B Gilead Merger
A shareholder of liver disease-focused biopharmaceutical company CymaBay Therapeutics Inc. sued the company in Delaware Chancery Court to extract more information over a proposed $4.3 billion merger with Gilead Sciences Inc., saying CymaBay has refused to hand over previously requested documents regarding the valuation analyses without a legitimate excuse.
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March 21, 2024
Avoid Major Extension Of Merger Reach, EU High Court Urged
An important tool for extending European Union antitrust officials' merger scrutiny appears to be in jeopardy after a European Court of Justice advocate general effectively recommended Thursday that the bloc's high court restrict the ability to investigate transactions that don't normally trigger EU thresholds.
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March 21, 2024
3rd Circ. Agrees Investors Have No Case Against Vax Maker
The Third Circuit on Thursday upheld a Pennsylvania federal judge's ruling that a putative class of investors alleging biopharmaceutical company Ocugen Inc. made misleading statements about its ability to quickly produce a COVID-19 vaccine failed to state a claim against the company.
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March 21, 2024
Chancery Denies Icahn Midcase Appeal In Illumina Board Suit
Carl Icahn can't interrupt his Chancery Court lawsuit against biotech Illumina Inc.'s board to appeal a decision about redactions to the Delaware Supreme Court, a vice chancellor ruled Wednesday, saying there are no "exceptional circumstances" that call for a midcase review.
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March 20, 2024
Jenner & Block-Led Lonza To Buy Roche's $1.2B US Facility
Swiss healthcare company Lonza said on Wednesday that it has agreed to acquire one of the largest medicine manufacturing facilities in the world from biotech giant Roche for $1.2 billion to increase its manufacturing capacity.
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March 20, 2024
Top Attorney For Bristol-Myers Squibb Earned $5.9M In '23
The longtime general counsel for biopharma giant Bristol-Myers Squibb earned more than $5.9 million in compensation for last year, a figure that was down slightly from $6.1 million in 2022 but still buoyed by her work on its recent CEO transition and other matters.
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March 20, 2024
2 Biotechs Unveil Separate Fundings Totaling $325M
Life sciences companies Clasp Therapeutics and Cooley-advised Capstan Therapeutics, which develop treatments for a range of health conditions including cancer and autoimmune diseases, separately announced funding rounds Wednesday that together total $325 million.
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March 19, 2024
Skin Care Drug Co. Can Ask Creditors To OK Ch. 11 Plan
A Delaware bankruptcy judge said Tuesday she will give a debtor formerly known as Timber Pharmaceuticals Inc. permission to send its Chapter 11 plan out for a vote by the dermatology drug developer's creditors, after counsel for the company explained it had expanded the creditors' ability to opt out of the plan's claim releases.
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March 19, 2024
J&J Says Former Exec Stole Thousands Of Files In Move To Pfizer
Johnson & Johnson has sued a former competitive strategy director in New Jersey federal court, claiming he illegally downloaded thousands of confidential files on his way out the door to work for direct competitor Pfizer.
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March 19, 2024
IFF Selling Pharma Unit To French Co. Roquette In $2.85B Deal
IFF, a maker of ingredients and additives for food, health and home-based products, said Tuesday it has agreed to sell its Pharma Solutions business to French plant-based ingredient maker Roquette at an enterprise value of up to $2.85 billion.
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March 18, 2024
Patent Suit Over AstraZeneca's Tagrisso Heads To Jury
A Delaware federal judge said Monday that there are too many "genuine factual disputes" to end a lawsuit from a Pfizer brand claiming it developed a cancer treatment that's being infringed by a drug that has racked up billions in sales for rival AstraZeneca.
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March 18, 2024
2nd Circ. Rejects 'New Standard' Of Patent Monopolies
A Second Circuit panel on Monday revived antitrust allegations accusing Novartis of concealing the true history of an eye syringe treatment's development from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to edge Regeneron out of the market, faulting a district court for holding that antitrust markets can't be "coextensive" with the patent.
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March 18, 2024
Conn. Pharmacy, FDA Say They've Settled Suit Over Probe
Medication compounding firm SCA Pharmaceuticals and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration together have asked a Connecticut federal judge to dissolve an emergency temporary restraining order blocking the agency from publishing comments related to its contested investigation of the pharmacy, with the parties saying they have executed a settlement.
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March 18, 2024
Biotech Ardelyx Beats Shareholder Suit Over Kidney Drug
Biotechnology company Ardelyx Inc. has for now beaten a shareholder class action alleging the company and its top brass made false and misleading statements about regulatory approval of Ardelyx's drug for patients with chronic kidney disease.
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March 18, 2024
Leerink Enticed Goldman Exec With False Promises, Suit Says
An investment banker says she was lured away from a senior position at Goldman Sachs to Boston-based Leerink Partners with what turned out to be a meaningless job title and false promises of guaranteed bonuses, according to a lawsuit filed Monday in Massachusetts state court.
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March 18, 2024
Pfizer To Reduce Stake In Haleon To 24% Through Share Sale
Haleon PLC said Monday that U.S. pharmaceutical titan Pfizer Inc. will reduce its stake in the British consumer healthcare company to 24%.
Expert Analysis
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ESG Around The World: South Korea
Numerous ESG trends have materialized in South Korea in the past three years, with impacts ranging from greenwashing prevention and carbon neutrality measures to workplace harassment and board diversity initiatives, say Chang Wook Min and Hyun Chan Jung at Jipyong.
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General Counsel Need Data Literacy To Keep Up With AI
With the rise of accessible and powerful generative artificial intelligence solutions, it is imperative for general counsel to understand the use and application of data for myriad important activities, from evaluating the e-discovery process to monitoring compliance analytics and more, says Colin Levy at Malbek.
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A Look At Successful Bid Protests In FY 2023
Attorneys at Sheppard Mullin look beyond the statistics in the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s recent annual report on bid protests, sharing their insights about nine categories of sustained protests, gained from reading every fiscal year 2023 decision in which the protester had a positive result.
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Rite Aid's Reasons For Ch. 11 Go Beyond Opioid Suits
Despite opioid-related lawsuits being the perceived reason that pushed Rite Aid into bankruptcy, the company's recent Chapter 11 filing reveals its tenuous position in the pharmaceutical retail market, and only time will tell whether bankruptcy will right-size the company, says Daniel Gielchinsky at DGIM Law.
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Navigating Discovery Of Generative AI Information
As generative artificial intelligence tools become increasingly ubiquitous, companies must make sure to preserve generative AI data when there is reasonable expectation of litigation, and to include transcripts in litigation hold notices, as they may be relevant to discovery requests, say Nick Peterson and Corey Hauser at Wiley.
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Finding Focus: Strategies For Attorneys With ADHD
Given the prevalence of ADHD among attorneys, it is imperative that the legal community gain a better understanding of how ADHD affects well-being, and that resources and strategies exist for attorneys with this disability to manage their symptoms and achieve success, say Casey Dixon at Dixon Life Coaching and Krista Larson at Stinson.
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AI Use May Trigger False Claims Act's Public Disclosure Bar
The likely use of publicly available artificial intelligence tools to detect government fraud by combing through large data sets will raise complex questions about a False Claims Act provision that prohibits the filing of claims based on previously disclosed information, say Nick Peterson and Spencer Brooks at Wiley Rein.
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Beware Privacy Risks In Training AI Models With Health Data
Because data used to train artificial intelligence models may be protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act or other regulations, users of these models should conduct proper diligence to avoid costly compliance failures, say Neha Matta and Barbara Bennett at Frost Brown.
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Unpacking GAO's FY 2023 Bid Protest Report
The U.S. Government Accountability Office's recent bid protest report reflects an increase in sustained protests, illustrating that disappointed offerors may see little reason to refrain from seeking corrective action — but there is more to the story, say Aron Beezley and Patrick Quigley at Bradley Arant.
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How Fla. Bankruptcy Ruling May Affect Equity Owners
A Florida bankruptcy court’s recent ruling in Vital Pharmaceuticals — which rejected the Third Circuit’s Majestic Star decision that determined a bankrupt corporation’s flow-through status was not protected by the automatic stay — may significantly affect how equity owners can mitigate the impact of flow-through structures in bankruptcy, say Eric Behl-Remijan and Natasha Hwangpo at Ropes & Gray.
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Earnout Contract Considerations After NC Good Faith Ruling
The North Carolina Supreme Court's recent Value Health Solutions v. Pharmaceutical Research decision, holding the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing did not apply in an earnout dispute related to an asset sale, demonstrates the need for practitioners to pay careful attention to milestone concepts in M&A transactions, says Benjamin Hicks at Wagner Hicks.
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Attorneys, Law Schools Must Adapt To New Era Of Evidence
Technological advancements mean more direct evidence is being created than ever before, and attorneys as well as law schools must modify their methods to account for new challenges in how this evidence is collected and used to try cases, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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ESG Around The World: The UK
Following Brexit, the U.K. has adopted a different approach to regulating environmental, social and governance factors from the European Union — an approach that focuses on climate disclosures by U.K.-regulated entities, while steering clear of the more ambitious objectives pursued by the EU, say attorneys at Dechert.