Life Sciences

  • October 15, 2025

    Saudi Arabia Fights $100M Arbitral Award To Qatar Pharma

    The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has urged a New York federal judge not to confirm a nearly $100 million arbitral award granted to a Qatari pharmaceutical distributor and its chairman, saying it is immune from suit and did not agree to arbitration.

  • October 15, 2025

    Ga. Justices Revive Suit Over L'Oréal Hair Relaxer Health Risks

    The Georgia Supreme Court reversed a decision by the state's Court of Appeals that barred a woman's suit alleging that chemicals in hair relaxers made by L'Oreal USA Inc. and Strength of Nature Global LLC caused her to develop uterine fibroids.

  • October 15, 2025

    Chancery 'Rewrote' $3.4B Merger Deal, J&J Tells Del. Justices

    Johnson & Johnson told the Delaware Supreme Court on Wednesday that the Chancery Court "rewrote" its $3.4 billion agreement for the acquisition of surgical robotics firm Auris Health, wrongly using the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing to impose obligations the company never accepted.

  • October 15, 2025

    Consumer Says Nail Fungus Product Falsely Marketed

    A North Carolina man hit Arcadia Consumer Healthcare Inc. with a proposed class action in federal court accusing the company of falsely advertising that its product Fungi-Nail is meant to treat nail fungus, although the fine print on the back label says otherwise.

  • October 15, 2025

    Geico Says Cos. Owe $415K For Fraudulent Med Gear Scheme

    A group of Geico auto insurers told a New York federal court that they are entitled to recoup $415,000 from companies that they allege submitted hundreds of fraudulent no-fault insurance claims, totaling over $1.25 million, for unnecessary durable medical equipment.

  • October 15, 2025

    Greenberg Traurig Lands Wilson Sonsini Life Sciences Pro

    Greenberg Traurig LLP has added a California partner from Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati with in-house and government legal experience to enhance its capacity to handle matters for clients in life sciences, artificial intelligence, biotechnology and other industries.

  • October 15, 2025

    Some Federal Workers Win Quick Block On Shutdown Layoffs

    A California federal judge on Wednesday granted a request from two unions representing thousands of federal workers to immediately block the Trump administration from laying them off during the government shutdown, saying she believes the plaintiffs will show that "what's being done here is both illegal and is in excess of authority."

  • October 14, 2025

    NJ, Del. Judges Stress Value Of Local Counsel For IP Attys

    Six judges with significant experience overseeing pharmaceutical patent litigation in the districts of New Jersey and Delaware urged litigators on Tuesday to rely on the expertise of local counsel if they're hoping to impress the court.

  • October 14, 2025

    Skinny Labels, Orange Book Take Center Stage In IP Talks

    Patent litigators focused on pharmaceuticals and biotechnology met Tuesday to work through the biggest issues in their industries, including possible reform to skinny label law, frustration with position-switching in litigation, concerns about when to list patents in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Orange Book and data on the relatively low impact of new policies at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

  • October 14, 2025

    Full 3rd Circ. Won't Rethink $45M CareDx False Ad Case

    The Third Circuit on Tuesday turned down medical testing company CareDx's request to have a full panel mull whether to reinstate a $45 million jury award in a false advertisement case over genetic testing technology against rival Natera.

  • October 14, 2025

    Relief Concerns Grow As Sectoral Tariff Actions Build

    Importers' hopes for relief from industrywide tariffs are lagging alongside the trade deals President Donald Trump is trying to broker for some goods, while the administration's accelerated rollout of sectoral levies is also stoking concerns the government may be hamstringing its onshoring goals.

  • October 14, 2025

    Embryo Loss Class Claims Hinge On Calif. Suit, Judge Says

    A Connecticut federal judge may pause a proposed class action blaming CooperSurgical Inc. for embryo losses during in vitro fertilization until a class certification motion is decided in a first-filed case in California, but the plaintiff will have until the end of the month to decide if she wants to proceed with only her direct claims instead.

  • October 14, 2025

    6th Circ. Won't Revive Allergy Tester's Antitrust Case

    The Sixth Circuit refused to revive an allergy testing and treatment company's antitrust case accusing an insurer and a medical group of conspiring to squeeze it out of the market, after finding that doctors are the ones being directly harmed by the alleged activity.

  • October 14, 2025

    Meet HHS General Counsel Michael Stuart

    Michael Stuart, a former chief federal prosecutor for West Virginia, has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as general counsel for the Department of Health and Human Services, where he has promised to make healthcare fraud enforcement a priority. 

  • October 14, 2025

    Attempts To Revive Stroke Treatment Patents Fail At Fed. Circ.

    The Federal Circuit on Tuesday tossed without analysis a challenge to Patent Trial and Appeal Board rulings that invalidated patents covering a stroke treatment system, letting stand one of the decisions deemed precedential by a former U.S. Patent and Trademark Office director.

  • October 14, 2025

    Freshfields Guides J&J's Planned Orthopedics Unit Spinoff

    Johnson & Johnson said Tuesday it intends to separate its orthopedics business into a stand-alone company within the next 18 to 24 months, with Freshfields LLP advising on the planned spinoff of the unit. 

  • October 14, 2025

    Ōura Valuation Soars To $11B After $900M Financing Round

    Fitness-tracking ring maker Ōura on Tuesday revealed it had reached a roughly $11 billion valuation after securing over $900 million in a funding round, which it says will help it develop new technologies, speed up artificial intelligence and product innovation, and expand global distribution.

  • October 14, 2025

    Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

    Last week at the Delaware Chancery Court, Vice Chancellor Lori W. Will ruled that Carlos Vasallo remains the CEO of Caribevision TV Network LLC, finding that majority investors' attempt to remove him under a defective 2019 agreement was invalid for lack of proper notice.

  • October 14, 2025

    Blood Test Co. Can't Escape Willful Infringement Claims

    A company that makes diagnostic medical tests has been denied a bid to escape from a medical research firm's claims that it willfully infringed patents when a judge held that reading the allegations in combination creates a plausible basis that the company had knowledge of the patents.

  • October 14, 2025

    Covington, Sidley Guide $700M BioCryst Allergic Disease Deal

    BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Inc. will purchase Astria Therapeutics Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on therapies for allergic and immunologic diseases, in a cash and stock deal worth about $700 million, the companies announced Tuesday.

  • October 14, 2025

    High Court Won't Hear FDA Stem Cell Regulation Fight

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to review a circuit court holding that a stem cell treatment derived from a patient's own tissue is subject to Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act regulations.

  • October 10, 2025

    Some Cases Advance In Latest Stewart Discretionary Rulings

    Deputy U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director Coke Morgan Stewart rejected 37 Patent Trial and Appeal Board petitions Friday night, but allowed 17 challenges to proceed.

  • October 10, 2025

    Zantac MDL Suits Were Impropely Tossed, 11th Circ. Told

    Consumers urged the Eleventh Circuit on Friday to revive their claims in a multidistrict litigation alleging that the main ingredient in the heartburn medication Zantac causes cancer, saying the court overseeing the case improperly sided with drugmakers' experts and preempted more claims from coming forward.

  • October 10, 2025

    Federal Worker Unions Press For Immediate Block Of Layoffs

    Unions representing federal workers urged a California federal court Friday to immediately block the Trump administration from laying off workers amid the government shutdown as the administration acknowledged it had begun issuing reduction-in-force notices to thousands of employees.

  • October 10, 2025

    AstraZeneca Strikes 'Most Favored Nation' Price Deal

    Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca on Friday cut a deal with the Trump administration to reduce drug prices in the United States, agreeing to provide its medications for Medicaid beneficiaries at discount prices.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Playing Softball Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My time on the softball field has taught me lessons that also apply to success in legal work — on effective preparation, flexibility, communication and teamwork, says Sarah Abrams at Baleen Specialty.

  • 5 Years In, COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Landscape Is Shifting

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    As the government moves pandemic fraud enforcement from small-dollar individual prosecutions to high-value corporate cases, and billions of dollars remain unaccounted for, companies and defense attorneys must take steps now to prepare for the next five years of scrutiny, says attorney David Tarras.

  • Fed. Circ. In August: A Framework For AIA Derivation Disputes

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    In Global Health Solutions v. Selner, the Federal Circuit established how to assess derivation challenges under the America Invents Act's first-to-file system, making it easier for petitioners to determine a challenge's odds of success, say attorneys at Knobbe Martens.

  • USPTO's Track One A Reliable Patent Pathway Amid Backlog

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    As the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office faces a backlog of unexamined utility, plant and reissue patent applications, patent applicants should consider utilizing the USPTO's Track One Program, which not only expedites the process but also increases the likelihood of working with more senior examiners, says Ryan Schermerhorn at Marshall Gerstein.

  • Vanda Ruling Opens Door For Contesting FDA Drug Denials

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    The D.C. Circuit's recent decision in Vanda Pharmaceuticals v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration creates new opportunities and considerations for drug companies navigating the FDA approval process, establishing that litigation is an option when the FDA refuses to hold a hearing, say attorneys at Polsinelli.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Mastering Time Management

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    Law students typically have weeks or months to prepare for any given deadline, but the unpredictability of practicing in the real world means that lawyers must become time-management pros, ready to adapt to scheduling conflicts and unexpected assignments at any given moment, says David Thomas at Honigman.

  • Rare Del. Oversight Ruling Sends Governance Wake-Up Call

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    An unusual ruling from the Delaware Court of Chancery recently allowed Caremark oversight claims to proceed against former executives of a company previously known as Teligent, sending a clear reminder that boards and officers must actively monitor and document oversight efforts when addressing mission-critical risks, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

  • How Hyperlinks Are Changing E-Discovery Responsibilities

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    A recent e-discovery dispute over hyperlinked data in Hubbard v. Crow shows how courts have increasingly broadened the definition of control to account for cloud-based evidence, and why organizations must rethink preservation practices to avoid spoliation risks, says Bree Murphy at Exterro.

  • Pharma Copay Programs Raise Complex Economic Questions

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    The growing prevalence of copay accumulator and maximizer programs in the pharmaceutical industry is drawing increased scrutiny from patients, advocacy groups, lawmakers and courts, bringing complex questions about how financial responsibility for prescription drug purchases is determined and complicating damages assessments in litigation, say analysts at Analysis Group.

  • State False Claims Acts Can Help Curb Opioid Fund Fraud

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    State versions of the federal False Claims Act can play an important role in policing the misuse of opioid settlement funds, taking a cue from the U.S. Department of Justice’s handling of federal fraud cases involving pandemic relief funds, says Kenneth Levine at Stone & Magnanini.

  • Beaming Up Lessons From William Shatner's Failed Patent Bid

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    In a tale that boldly goes where few celebrity inventors have gone before, William Shatner's unsuccessful attempt to patent a smartphone file organization system offers insights about potential pitfalls to avoid in patent applications, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • The Pros And Cons Of Levying Value-Based Fees On Patents

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    The potential for a recurring, value-based maintenance fee on patents, while offering some benefits, raises several complications, including that it would likely exceed the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's statutory authority and reduce research and development activities in the U.S., says Sandip Patel at Marshall Gerstein.

  • Series

    Writing Musicals Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My experiences with writing musicals and practicing law have shown that the building blocks for both endeavors are one and the same, because drama is necessary for the law to exist, says Addison O’Donnell at LOIS Law.

  • Between The Lines Of EPO's Adoption Of Color Drawings

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    The European Patent Office's decision to accept patent drawings in color starting in October may enhance clarity in technical disclosures and streamline the examination process, and could also enable new patent filing strategies for international applicants, say attorneys at Miller Canfield.

  • What Prop 65 Ruling Means For Cosmetics, Personal Care Biz

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    A California federal court's recent decision on Proposition 65 warnings is good news for companies in the cosmetics and personal care space, as it will relieve businesses of the need to apply such warnings to products containing titanium dioxide and likely stop a wave of pending failure-to-warn litigation, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

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