Life Sciences

  • June 02, 2025

    Monthly Merger Review Snapshot

    The Federal Trade Commission finally dropped its long-pending challenge of Microsoft's purchase of video game developer Activision Blizzard, as enforcers pushed monopolization cases seeking to break up Google, Meta and Live Nation, while also pursuing several traditional merger cases. Here, Law360 looks at the major merger review developments from May.

  • June 02, 2025

    4 Mass. Rulings You May Have Missed In May

    Massachusetts judges grappled with accusations of fraud in the sale of a struggling life sciences company and gave the benefit of the doubt to a vendor who allegedly sold the state gallons of ineffective hand sanitizer, among other notable rulings last month.

  • June 02, 2025

    Judge Denies UTC Bid To Block Liquidia's Lung Drug

    A North Carolina federal judge has refused to temporarily block Liquidia Technologies Inc. from selling its own version of United Therapeutics Corp.'s blockbuster lung disease treatment Tyvaso.

  • June 02, 2025

    Allergan Entities Get Booted From Botox Patent Suit In Del.

    A Delaware federal judge has dismissed a pair of Allergan units from a suit alleging two biotechnology companies infringed patents related to Botox products, finding one unit had not shown it was actually the exclusive licensee to the disputed patents, while another agreed to be dismissed.

  • June 02, 2025

    Foley & Lardner Opens In Nashville With 3 Holland & Knight Attys

    Foley & Lardner LLP has chosen Nashville as the location for its 27th office worldwide, bringing on three attorneys who had been at Holland & Knight LLP to work on regulatory, tax and transactional matters, the firm announced Monday.

  • June 02, 2025

    J&J Again Seeks To Block Beasley Allen In NJ Talc Litigation

    Johnson & Johnson has opposed a New Jersey talc claimant's motion for the pro hac vice admission of two attorneys from The Beasley Allen Law Firm, claiming the partners' conduct in its talc unit's bankruptcy proceedings warrants denial of the application.

  • June 02, 2025

    Defamation Litigation Roundup: Cheetos, NASCAR, OpenAI

    In this month's review of ongoing defamation fights, Law360 looks back on developments in a man's case against Frito-Lay Inc. over what he called the company's defamatory statements disputing his role in the invention of a flavor of Cheetos.

  • June 02, 2025

    High Court Rejects Bard Patent Misuse Dispute

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday said it won't consider the Ninth Circuit's decision to revive a $53 million breach of contract suit C.R. Bard Inc. filed against Atrium Medical Corp. over patent royalties and patent misuse.

  • May 30, 2025

    Pharma Co. Hid Cancer Study Method Problems, Investor Claims

    Biotechnology company UroGen Pharma Ltd. and three current and former executives are facing a proposed investor class action in New Jersey federal court alleging the company failed to disclose methodology flaws affecting a study of its lead drug candidate that ultimately doomed its bid for U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval.

  • May 30, 2025

    $5.2M Generic Drug Price-Fixing MDL Deal Gets Final OK

    Apotex Corp. will be paying $5.2 million to settle claims from a class of indirect purchasers alleging the drugmaker was working with other pharmaceutical companies to hike up the price of certain generic medications.

  • May 30, 2025

    Wheeling & Appealing: The Latest Must-Know Appellate Action

    Saying that June's circuit court calendars include important arguments in all practice areas would be hyperbolic — but just slightly. That's because significant showdowns are imminent involving appellate procedure principles, "click-to-cancel" rules, government procurement protests, judiciary employment protections and litigation risk insurance — as well as President Donald Trump's felony convictions and extraordinary deportation measures.

  • May 30, 2025

    Crowdfunding, Reg A Deals Grow Slowly As SEC Weighs Ideas

    Equity crowdfunding and expanded Regulation A offerings have grown slowly since going live over the past decade, according to new data, leaving open questions on whether regulators will ease rules to bolster these alternatives to traditional capital raising.

  • May 30, 2025

    TopCo Settles Suit Over Cough Syrup Billed As 'Non-Drowsy'

    The parties in a lawsuit alleging Tussin cough syrup's "non-drowsy" label is deceptive because the syrup makes users sleepy told an Illinois federal judge that they've reached a binding settlement that would end the case.

  • May 30, 2025

    ITC Issues Import Block On Ascletis Liver Disease Drugs

    The U.S. International Trade Commission has issued an order blocking a Hong Kong-listed drug developer from importing treatments for a type of liver disease for the next seven years.

  • May 30, 2025

    Generic-Drug Makers Near Exit From Depo-Provera MDL

    Attorneys for the plaintiffs in a multidistrict litigation claiming Pfizer Inc. failed to adequately warn patients and doctors about the risk of brain tumors associated with the hormonal contraceptive Depo-Provera told a Florida federal judge that they are close to dismissing claims against three manufacturers of generic versions of the drug.

  • May 30, 2025

    DLA Piper Adds Healthcare Regulatory Atty In DC Office

    DLA Piper strengthened its healthcare regulatory resources in Washington, D.C., with the recent addition of an attorney who previously served as acting general counsel for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

  • May 30, 2025

    Former Pfizer Atty, Motley Rice Adviser Joins DiCello Levitt

    A former Pfizer vice president and assistant general counsel, who last June entered into a consulting agreement with Motley Rice LLC, is joining DiCello Levitt as a partner as part of the firm's Washington, D.C., public client practice group, the firm recently announced.

  • May 29, 2025

    AstraZeneca Inks $51.4M Settlement In Pay-For-Delay Case

    AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP and Handa Pharmaceuticals LLC have agreed to shell out a combined $51.4 million to put to rest allegations AstraZeneca paid off generic-drug makers, including Handa, to protect its brand antipsychotic drug Seroquel XR, according to a filing Thursday in Delaware federal court.

  • May 29, 2025

    CMS Seeks Hospital Responses On Gender Dysphoria Care

    The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is asking hospitals to produce information on gender dysphoria care provided to children and adolescents, noting in an oversight letter that the U.S. government has "serious concerns" surrounding hormone therapy and other gender-affirming medical interventions.

  • May 29, 2025

    Monsanto-Funded Researcher Influenced Panel, Jury Hears

    A Missouri jury hearing the latest trial over cancer claims related to Monsanto's glyphosate pesticides heard Thursday that a Monsanto-funded researcher was able to change the course of a prestigious international panel weighing the chemical's carcinogenicity.

  • May 29, 2025

    Express Scripts Says Arkansas Can't Ban PBM Pharmacies

    Pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts sued the state of Arkansas in federal court Thursday, alleging that the state's recently enacted law banning PBMs from owning pharmacies in the state violated the U.S. Constitution and ran afoul of federal law governing military employee benefits.

  • May 29, 2025

    Delaware Justices Asked To Review Corporate Law Rework

    A biopharmaceutical company stockholder has sought direct certification of a derivative suit to Delaware's Supreme Court, asking for state constitutional review of legislation approved in March that limits avenues for challenges to some corporate acts.

  • May 29, 2025

    Judge Favors Vanda But Seeks Deal Over Drug Approval

    A D.C. federal judge on Thursday seemed ready to rule for Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. in its challenge to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's timelines for approving new drugs but asked both sides to first try negotiating remedies to resolve the dispute.

  • May 29, 2025

    Ex-USPTO Solicitor Says He's Against Squires Nomination

    A former solicitor for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has come out against the nomination of John A. Squires to be the next director of the agency, saying in a letter Thursday that he's concerned about the nominee's desire to make existing patents stronger.

  • May 29, 2025

    Drugstores Say Texas Flouted Rules To Update Pharmacy Regs

    The National Association of Chain Drug Stores Inc. told the Texas Supreme Court that updates to statewide policy governing how pharmacies report drug prices flouted Texas rulemaking procedures, telling the state's high court that even if the updates were "good policy" they weren't lawful.

Expert Analysis

  • FDA's Red No. 3 Ban Reshapes Food Safety Legal Landscape

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    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's recent ban on Red No. 3 represents more than the end of a controversial dye — it signals a shift in regulatory priorities, consumer expectations, intellectual property strategy, compliance considerations and litigation risk, says Dino Haloulos at Foley Mansfield.

  • Scope And Nature Of Judicial Relief Will Affect Loper's Impact

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    The practical result of post-Loper Bright rulings against regulatory actions will depend on the relief courts grant — and there has been controversy in these types of cases over whether the ruling is applied just to the parties or nationwide, and whether the action can be left in place while it's corrected, says Steven Gordon at Holland & Knight.

  • The Implications Of E-Cigarette Cos. Taking Suits To 5th Circ.

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    The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments in U.S. Food and Drug Administration v. R.J. Reynolds over the definition of an "adversely affected" person under the Tobacco Control Act, and the justices' ruling will have important and potentially wide-ranging implications for forum shopping claims, says Trillium Chang at Zuckerman Spaeder.

  • Series

    Adventure Photography Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Photographing nature everywhere from Siberia to Cuba and Iceland to Rwanda provides me with a constant reminder to refresh, refocus and rethink the legal issues that my clients face, says Richard Birmingham at Davis Wright.

  • What Vinyl Acetate's Prop 65 Listing Means For Cos.

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    California's recent move to add vinyl acetate to the Proposition 65 list of carcinogens, with enforcement starting later this year, will have sweeping compliance and risk implications for businesses in the retail, food and beverage, paint, adhesive, industrial manufacturing, and personal care product industries, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • Fed. Circ. Inherency Ruling Refines Obviousness Framework

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    The Federal Circuit's December decision in Cytiva v. JSR has definitively eliminated the requirement of "reasonable expectation of success" analysis for inherent properties in obviousness determinations, while providing some key clarifications for patent practitioners, says Lawrence Kass at Steptoe.

  • Navigating The Potential End Of GLP-1 Drug Shortages

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    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's determination of whether GLP-1 products are in shortage may affect how compounders provide these products and spur a range of litigation including patent disputes and unfair competition suits, say attorneys at Goodwin.

  • High Court Could Further Limit Deference With TCPA Fax Case

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    The Supreme Court's decision to hear McLaughlin Chiropractic Associates v. McKesson, a case involving alleged junk faxes that centers whether district courts are bound by Federal Communications Commission rules, offers the court a chance to possibly further limit the judicial deference afforded to federal agency interpretations of statutes, says Samantha Duke at Rumberger Kirk.

  • 5 Ways To Create Effective Mock Assignments For Associates

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    In order to effectively develop associates’ critical thinking skills, firms should design mock assignments that contain a few key ingredients, from messy fact patterns to actionable feedback, says Abdi Shayesteh at AltaClaro.

  • Calif. Cannabis Decision Deepens Commerce Clause Divide

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    In Peridot Tree v. Sacramento, the Eastern District of California joined a growing minority of courts that have found the dormant commerce clause inapplicable to state-regulated marijuana, and the Ninth Circuit will soon provide important guidance on this issue, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.

  • Opinion

    IVF Suits Highlight Need For Better Legal Frameworks

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    The high number of in vitro fertilization embryo losses underscores the need for more cohesive legal and regulatory guidance related to human errors, property versus personhood, and liability, says Jeff Korek at Gersowitz Libo.

  • Recent Suits Show Antitrust Agencies' Focus On HSR Review

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    The U.S. Department of Justice's suit this month against KKR for inaccurate and incomplete premerger filings, along with other recent cases, highlights the agency's increasing scrutiny of Hart-Scott-Rodino Act compliance for private equity firms, say attorneys at Willkie.

  • The 7th Circ.'s Top 10 Civil Opinions Of 2024

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    Attorneys at Jenner & Block examine the most significant decisions issued by the Seventh Circuit in 2024, and explain how they may affect issues related to mass arbitration, consumer fraud, class certification and more.

  • Royal Canin Ruling Won't Transform Removal Jurisdiction

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Royal Canin USA v. Wullschleger means that federal district courts must now remand whenever an amended complaint excises grounds for federal jurisdiction — but given existing litigation strategy and case law trends, this may ultimately preserve, rather than alter, the status quo, say attorneys at Norton Rose.

  • Lessons From The Pharma Industry On Patent Cliffs

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    In the next five years, patents for drugs that have generated billions in global sales are set to expire, and companies that view this imminent patent cliff as an opportunity for strategic renewal rather than a challenge will be best positioned to maintain market leadership, says Keegan Caldwell at Caldwell Law.

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