Life Sciences

  • 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.

  • May 19, 2026

    PTAB Ends Repetitive Challenges To Mercury Removal IP

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has tossed a pair of challenges to mercury removal patents owned by Birchtech Corp., saying the challengers were prioritizing separate bids to invalidate the same patents.

  • May 19, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Rehearing Sought In $18M Penile Implant Dispute

    The Federal Circuit has been asked to have another look at a decision that largely reversed a California federal jury verdict that awarded $18.3 million to International Medical Devices Inc. in a trade secret case related to penile implants.

  • May 19, 2026

    Mentari, InMed Merge In Deal Backed By $290M Funding

    InMed Pharmaceuticals Inc. on Tuesday announced plans to merge with migraine prevention drugmaker Mentari Therapeutics Inc. in an all-stock deal that is backed by a $290 million private placement and was guided by three law firms.

  • May 19, 2026

    Novo Nordisk Says Investor Suit Pleadings Are Impermissible

    Novo Nordisk AS urged a New Jersey federal court to toss a proposed securities class action accusing it of misleading investors about its 2025 revenue outlook, arguing that the plaintiffs failed to plead any materially false or misleading statements.

  • May 19, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Restores 2 Patent Suits On Same Standing Issue

    The Federal Circuit on Tuesday reinstated a pair of patent infringement suits from patent owners that licensed their intellectual property to other parties, finding that the companies met the minimum constitutional requirements to show they had standing to sue.

  • May 19, 2026

    Feds Say High Court Should Skip Religious Bias Vax Fight

    The U.S. solicitor general urged the U.S. Supreme Court not to wade into a religious bias case challenging New York's COVID-19 vaccine mandate for healthcare workers, arguing that a Second Circuit decision backing the case's dismissal did not undermine federal civil rights law.

  • May 18, 2026

    Comic Gets Serious About Mom's Cancer At J&J Talc Trial

    A comedian who testified Monday at a California bellwether trial over claims that Johnson & Johnson's talc products caused three women's deadly ovarian cancer wiped away tears as he talked about his late mother, saying his emotions are "a little unusual" because he spends most of his time trying not to be serious.

  • May 18, 2026

    Squires, Stewart Zero In On PTAB's Burden Of Proof At Panel

    The leaders of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Monday asked intellectual property experts to wade into debates over the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, focusing in part on whether switching to a stricter burden of proof would address disparate outcomes between the board and district court.

  • May 18, 2026

    Woman Says Spinal Device Caused Permanent Nerve Damage

    The maker of a spinal cord stimulation technology to treat chronic pain faces a federal lawsuit from a Colorado woman who claims that the technology caused her permanent nerve damage and that the device has unacceptable rates of failure nationwide.

  • May 18, 2026

    Ill. Panel Sides With AbbVie In Eye-Stent Injury Suit

    An Illinois appeals panel on Monday affirmed summary judgment in favor of AbbVie in a suit alleging one of its eye stents caused a man's eye injuries, finding the patient failed to present any evidence that his symptoms were a result of the product's manufacturing or design.

Expert Analysis

  • Assessing Compliance Risks Around TrumpRx Participation

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    As there are novel compliance obligations and potential political opposition related to the new TrumpRx online drug platform, companies intending to participate on the site should consider the pressure points that are likely to draw enforcement scrutiny, say attorneys at Sheppard.

  • USPTO Initiatives May Bolster SEP Litigation In The US

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    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's recent efforts to revitalize standard-essential patent litigation face hurdles in their reliance on courts and other agencies, but may help the U.S. regain its central role in global SEP litigation if successful, say attorneys at Axinn.

  • Series

    Trail Running Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Navigating the muddy, root-filled path of trail marathons and ultramarathons provides fertile training ground for my high-stakes fractional general counsel work, teaching me to slow down my mind when the terrain shifts, sharpen my focus and trust my training, says Eric Proos at Next Era Legal.

  • Predicting Actual Impact From CDC's New Vaccine Guidance

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    Recent federal changes to the childhood immunization schedule, reducing the number of vaccine recommendations from 18 to 11, do not automatically create enforceable obligations for parents, schools or healthcare providers, but may spur litigation and other downstream effects on school policies and state guidelines, says Mehdi Sinaki at Michelman & Robinson.

  • AI Scientific Discovery Order Implications For Life Sciences

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    President Donald Trump's November executive order establishing a government effort to use artificial intelligence to accelerate scientific discovery has the potential to leverage significant federal resources and data to support research, drug and device approvals, and AI model training in the life sciences sector, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.

  • What Rescheduling Means For Cannabis Labels, Marketing

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    The proposed reclassification of cannabis is expected to bring heightened scrutiny of labeling, advertising and marketing from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission, but the brands that tighten evidence, standardize operations and professionalize marketing controls now will see fewer surprises and better outcomes, say attorneys at Wilson Elser.

  • Tips From Del. Decision Nixing Major Earnout Damages Award

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    The Delaware Supreme Court recently vacated in part the largest earnout-related damages award in Delaware history, making clear that the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing cannot be used to rescue parties from drafting choices where the relevant regulatory risk was foreseeable at signing, say attorneys at Sullivan & Cromwell.

  • USPTO's New Patentability Focus Helps Emerging Tech

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    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's recent efforts to shift patentability criteria back toward traditional standards of novelty, obviousness and adequate disclosure should make it easier for emerging tech, including artificial intelligence, to obtain patents, says Bill Braunlin at Barclay Damon.

  • Malpractice Claim Assignability Continues To Divide Courts

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    Recent decisions from courts across the country demonstrate how different jurisdictions balance competing policy interests in determining whether legal malpractice claims can be assigned, providing a framework to identify when and how to challenge any attempted assignment, says Christopher Blazejewski at Sherin & Lodgen.

  • Courts' Rare Quash Of DOJ Subpoenas Has Lessons For Cos.

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    In a rare move, three federal courts recently quashed or partially quashed expansive U.S. Department of Justice administrative subpoenas issued to providers of gender-affirming care, demonstrating that courts will scrutinize purpose, cabin statutory authority and acknowledge the profound privacy burdens of overbroad government demands for sensitive records, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • Unpacking Dormant Commerce Clause Cannabis Circuit Split

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    Federal courts have reached differing conclusions as to whether state-legal cannabis is subject to the dormant commerce clause, with four opinions across three circuit courts in the last year demonstrating the continued salience of the dormant commerce clause debate to the nation's cannabis industry, regulators and policymakers, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.

  • Opinion

    CFIUS Must Adapt To Current Foreign Investment Realities

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    To continue protecting the U.S.’ long-term strategic and economic interests, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States should implement practical enhancements that leverage technology, expertise and clear communication, and enable it to keep pace with evolving demands, says attorney Sohan Dasgupta.

  • Utah's AI Prescription Renewal Pilot Could Inform Policy

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    Utah recently became the first state to approve an artificial intelligence system for autonomously renewing certain prescription medicines, providing a test case for how regulators may be able to draw boundaries between administrative automation and medical judgment, say Jashaswi Ghosh at Holon Law Partners and Bryant Godfrey at Foley Hoag.

  • Ramped Up Psychedelic Production Carries Opportunity, Risk

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    Kimberly Chew at Husch Blackwell discusses the key legal implications of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's recent dramatic increases in the production quotas for a range of psychedelic substances, offering guidance on compliance, risk management and strategic opportunities for practitioners navigating this rapidly evolving landscape.

  • Series

    Teaching Logic Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Teaching middle and high school students the skills to untangle complicated arguments and identify faulty reasoning has made me reacquaint myself with the defined structure of thought, reminding me why logic should remain foundational in the practice of law, says Tom Barrow at Woods Rogers.

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