Deals & Corporate Governance

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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. 

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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. 

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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

  • Understanding Discovery Obligations In Era Of Generative AI

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Attorneys and businesses must adapt to the unique discovery challenges presented by generative artificial intelligence, such as chatbot content and prompts, while upholding the principles of fairness, transparency and compliance with legal obligations in federal civil litigation, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • Employer Lessons After 2023's Successful Labor Strikes

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    Following recent historic strikes in the automotive, entertainment and health care industries, employers of all types can learn key insights about how unions may approach negotiations and strikes going forward, and nonunionized workplaces should anticipate a drive for increased union membership, say Lenny Feigel and Mark Neuberger at Foley & Lardner.

  • ESG Around The World: Mexico

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    ESG has yet to become part of the DNA of the Mexican business model, but huge strides are being made in that direction, as more stakeholders demand that companies adopt, at the least, a modicum of sustainability commitments and demonstrate how they will meet them, says Carlos Escoto at Galicia Abogados.

  • The Case For Post-Bar Clerk Training Programs At Law Firms

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    In today's competitive legal hiring market, an intentionally designed training program for law school graduates awaiting bar admission can be an effective way of creating a pipeline of qualified candidates, says Brent Daub at Gilson Daub.

  • 10 Takeaways From New HHS Federal Compliance Guidelines

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    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' recently issued general compliance program guidance is the first of its kind that would apply across all health care stakeholders, and signals the agency’s first step to improve and update existing compliance guidance, says Melissa Wong at Holland & Knight.

  • Attorneys Have An Ethical Duty To Protect The Judiciary

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    The tenor of public disagreement and debate has become increasingly hostile against judges, and though the legislative branch is trying to ameliorate this safety gap, lawyers have a moral imperative and professional requirement to stand with judges in defusing attacks against them and their rulings, says Deborah Winokur at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Cross-Market Implications In FTC's Anesthesia Complaint

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    The Federal Trade Commission's recent complaint against a private equity firm's acquisition of anesthesiology practices highlights the controversial issue of cross-market harm in health care provider mergers, and could provide important insights into how a court may view such theories of harm, say Christopher Lau and Dina Older Aguilar at Cornerstone Research.

  • AI Can Help Lawyers Overcome The Programming Barrier

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    Legal professionals without programming expertise can use generative artificial intelligence to harness the power of automation and other technology solutions to streamline their work, without the steep learning curve traditionally associated with coding, says George Zalepa at Greenberg Traurig.

  • Cos. Must Adapt To Calif. Immigration Data Privacy Law

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    California’s recently signed A.B. 947 expands the California Consumer Privacy Act and brings the state in line with other comprehensive privacy laws that address immigration status, meaning companies should make any necessary updates to their processes and disclosures, say Kate Lucente and Matt Dhaiti at DLA Piper.

  • Looking For Defense Contract Appeal Trends In Annual Report

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    A deep dive into the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals annual report for the 2023 fiscal year reveals increases in the number of cases filed, pending motions and expedited or accelerated cases, while the board disposed of fewer cases than in prior fiscal years, say Scott Flesch and Alexandra Prime at Miller & Chevalier.

  • Preparing Law Students For A New, AI-Assisted Legal World

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    As artificial intelligence rapidly transforms the legal landscape, law schools must integrate technology and curricula that address AI’s innate challenges — from ethics to data security — to help students stay ahead of the curve, say Daniel Garrie at Law & Forensics, Ryan Abbott at JAMS and Karen Silverman at Cantellus Group.

  • ESG Around The World: South Korea

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    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.

  • General Counsel Need Data Literacy To Keep Up With AI

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    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.