Life Sciences

  • May 09, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Lifts Ban On Generic Cos.' Bladder Drugs

    The Federal Circuit on Thursday rejected Astellas Pharma's latest effort to stop the launch of generic drugs that would compete with its own blockbuster overactive bladder medication and lifted a temporary ban that was put in place by the appeals court in April.

  • May 09, 2024

    Gilead Judge Clarifies But Won't Amend HIV Drug IP Judgment

    A Delaware federal judge on Thursday rejected Gilead Sciences' request to amend her judgment finding that two medications in its HIV prevention regimen, Truvada and Descovy, directly infringed the government's invalidated patents, but clarified her judgment to say that non-party patients or physicians committed the infringement.

  • May 09, 2024

    First Zantac Trial Plaintiff Says She Can't Live Normal Life

    An Illinois woman suing the former manufacturers of Zantac heartburn medication and claiming her long-term use of the drug caused her colon cancer testified Thursday that she has struggled to control her bowels since her 2015 diagnosis and has experienced multiple accidents in public places that left her humiliated and fearful to leave her home.

  • May 09, 2024

    Judge Halts DEA's Hearing On Proposed Psychedelics Ban

    An administrative law judge with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has ordered the agency to cancel a June 10 hearing on its proposal to ban two psychedelic substances while a researcher's federal lawsuit challenging the agency's actions plays out in court, according to an order made public Thursday.

  • May 09, 2024

    Masimo Makes Offer To End Activist Politan's Proxy Contest

    Medical technology company Masimo Corp. revealed Thursday that it is willing to appoint one of the director nominees put forth by activist investment firm Politan Capital Management LP in exchange for the company dropping its proxy fight, though Politan signaled distaste with the proposed deal.

  • May 09, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Skeptical Allergan Illegally Extended Exclusivity

    A Federal Circuit panel seemed doubtful Thursday that a patent covering Allergan's bowel treatment drug Viberzi should have its life cut short based on the expiration date of related patents, in oral arguments over obviousness-type double patenting.

  • May 09, 2024

    Ex-Dental Device CEO Cops To $10.7M Investor Fraud

    The former CEO of a dental device company pled guilty Thursday to defrauding investors out of $10.7 million with false claims that his company received the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's approval for a device he promised would take the place of X-rays.

  • May 09, 2024

    Ex-Official Says NJ, Ethics Board Are 'Stonewalling' Discovery

    A former New Jersey health official has asked a state judge to order the state and its ethics commission to provide full discovery around his claims that he was fired in 2020 for raising concerns about the governor's chief of staff earmarking COVID-19 tests for relatives, accusing the Garden State of "stonewalling" his requests for documents and communications.

  • May 09, 2024

    Body-Sculpting Device Supplier Hit With Fraud Claims

    A Massachusetts company that sells body-sculpting equipment tricks buyers into believing their operations will be unrealistically lucrative, and harms them with restraints on pricing and coercion against transferring their devices, according to a lawsuit in Connecticut state court.

  • May 09, 2024

    11th Circ. Rejects Monsanto's Roundup Suit Redo Request

    The full Eleventh Circuit has rejected Monsanto's renewed request for review of a panel's ruling that a Georgia doctor can allege the company failed to warn about cancer risks associated with the use of Roundup weedkiller despite federal pesticide labeling requirements.

  • May 09, 2024

    Ex-Pharma Exec Asks 1st Circ. To DQ Judge In Contempt Case

    U.S. District Judge Mark Wolf cannot be impartial and must be disqualified from presiding over a criminal contempt trial against a former pharmaceutical executive accused of using an alias to flout a civil judgment, the defendant told the First Circuit in a Wednesday filing.

  • May 09, 2024

    Apnea Device Maker ProSomnus Gets OK For Ch. 11 Loan

    A Delaware bankruptcy judge Thursday gave sleep apnea device maker ProSomnus interim permission to tap into $13 million in Chapter 11 financing to fund the company through what it says will be the end of its case in August.

  • May 09, 2024

    Deals Rumor Mill: Paramount, Peloton, International Paper

    Sony and Apollo plan to break up Paramount if their $26 billion bid prevails, private equity firms are eyeing a Peloton buyout, and International Paper gets a $15 billion bid from Brazil's Suzano. Here, Law360 breaks down the notable deal rumors from the past week.

  • May 08, 2024

    Quinn Emanuel Atty Says Asset Freeze Hurt Outcome Defense

    The U.S. government's overreach in restraining millions more than it could reasonably trace back to a $1 billion fraud by Outcome Health prevented the company's former CEO from hiring Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP attorneys to defend the charges like he originally wanted, an Illinois federal judge heard Wednesday.

  • May 08, 2024

    Opioid Maker Beats Investor Suit Over FDA Warning For Good

    A California federal judge has permanently dismissed a lawsuit from investors of acute pain drug company AcelRx Pharmaceuticals Inc. accusing it of engaging in misbranding violations that put it at greater risk for regulatory scrutiny.

  • May 08, 2024

    Shockwave Medical Investor Challenges $13B Deal With J&J

    A shareholder of cardiovascular treatment company Shockwave Medical Inc. is attempting to halt the company's "unfair" $13 billion proposed transaction with Johnson & Johnson by filing a securities suit, saying the transaction will only benefit company insiders and damage public shareholders.

  • May 08, 2024

    Conn. Justices To Hear McCarter & English Damages Demand

    The Connecticut Supreme Court has accepted a certified question from a federal district court judge in McCarter & English LLP's yearslong fee feud with a former client, agreeing to decide whether the firm can recover punitive damages after years chasing Jarrow Formulas Inc. and winning a jury verdict last year.

  • May 08, 2024

    Kirkland Drives Vance Street To $775M Fund IV Closing

    Los Angeles-based private equity shop Vance Street Capital, advised by Kirkland & Ellis LLP, on Wednesday announced it held the first and final close for its fourth fund with $775 million in tow.

  • May 08, 2024

    Sleep Apnea Co. Hits Ch. 11 Over $41.5M In Debt, Cash Woes

    California-based ProSomnus, which produces devices to prevent sleep apnea, said a balance sheet heavy with more than $41.5 million in debt and difficulty in funding its continued operations forced it to file for Chapter 11 protections in Delaware.

  • May 08, 2024

    Simpson Thacher-Led Silver Lake Lands $20.5B For 7th Fund

    Technology-focused private equity shop Silver Lake, advised by Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, announced Wednesday the closing of its seventh flagship fund after securing $20.5 billion from investors, beating out the amount raised in its predecessor fund by about half a billion dollars.

  • May 07, 2024

    GOP Reps. Want IP Enforcers To Get Tougher On Infringers

    Republican lawmakers complained at a Tuesday congressional hearing about the Biden administration's move to end the controversial Trump-era "China Initiative" aimed at curbing suspected economic espionage and questioned administration officials over how diligently they have pursued intellectual property cases on behalf of U.S. manufacturers, retailers, movie studios and vape companies.

  • May 07, 2024

    Iceberg Image Closes Pacira Drug Patent Infringement Trial

    A generic drugmaker on Tuesday used imagery to argue that the information in a Pacira Biosciences Inc. painkiller patent is just the proverbial tip of the iceberg, positing that regulators would have rejected the application if all the data on the medicine had been revealed.

  • May 07, 2024

    Pharma Co. Falsely Touted Obesity Drug Results, Suit Claims

    Biopharmaceutical company Altimmune Inc. and three of its executives were hit with a proposed class action alleging they overstated the clinical trial results and prospects of its obesity drug and its ability to compete with other weight loss medications like Ozempic.

  • May 07, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Seems Wary Of Broad's CRISPR Inventorship Win

    Federal Circuit Judge Todd Hughes on Tuesday suggested that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board cited the correct standard when reviewing who first invented a particular use of the gene-editing technology CRISPR-Cas9, but then applied an improper standard when ruling in favor of a Massachusetts research team.

  • May 07, 2024

    Colo. Judge Tells Cos. Their Warring Briefs Aren't Helping

    A Colorado federal judge has warned a medical device distributor and a Stryker subsidiary warring over a $2.3 million sanctions request that neither of their briefs appeared to provide "meaningful assistance" to help him determine what to award.

Expert Analysis

  • 5 Takeaways From FDA's Biosimilars Promotion Guidance

    Author Photo

    New draft guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration expands upon other recent efforts to clarify expectations for biosimilar and interchangeable labeling, highlighting a number of potential missteps that could draw attention from regulators, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

  • Dual-Track IPO-M&A Exit Strategies For Life Science Cos.

    Author Photo

    A dual-track process for life sciences companies offers a proven path to securing favorable deal terms for an exit, and strategic moves can include running a crossover financing round in the lead-up, say attorneys at McDermott.

  • Does Expert Testimony Aid Preliminary IPR Responses?

    Author Photo

    Dechert attorneys analyze six years of patent owners' preliminary responses to inter partes review petitions to determine whether the elimination of the presumption favoring the petitioner as to preinstitution testimonial evidence affected the usefulness of expert testimony in responses.

  • Are Concessions In FDA's Lab-Developed Tests Rule Enough?

    Author Photo

    Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's new policy for laboratory-developed tests included major strategic concessions to help balance patient safety, access and diagnostic innovation, the new rule may well face significant legal challenges in court, say Dominick DiSabatino and Audrey Mercer at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Rebuttal

    Double-Patenting Ruling Shows Terminal Disclaimers' Value

    Author Photo

    While a recent Law360 guest article seems to argue that the Federal Circuit’s Cellect decision last year robs patent owners of lawful patent term, the ruling actually identifies how terminal disclaimers are the solution to the problem of obviousness-type double patenting, say Jane Love and Robert Trenchard at Gibson Dunn.

  • Series

    Swimming Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    Years of participation in swimming events, especially in the open water, have proven to be ideal preparation for appellate arguments in court — just as you must put your trust in the ocean when competing in a swim event, you must do the same with the judicial process, says John Kulewicz at Vorys.

  • Mid-2024 FCA Enforcement And Litigation Trends To Watch

    Author Photo

    Reviewing notable False Claims Act trends and enforcement efforts in the last year and a half reveals that healthcare is a key enforcement priority for the U.S. Department of Justice, and the road ahead may bring clarification on Anti-Kickback Statute causation and willfulness standards, along with increased focus on private equity, cybersecurity and self-disclosure, say attorneys at Epstein Becker.

  • What 100 Federal Cases Suggest About Changes To Chevron

    Author Photo

    With the U.S. Supreme Court poised to overturn or narrow its 40-year-old doctrine of Chevron deference, a review of 100 recent federal district court decisions confirm that changes to the Chevron framework will have broad ramifications — but the magnitude of the impact will depend on the details of the high court's ruling, say Kali Schellenberg and Jon Cochran at LeVan Stapleton.

  • Why High Court May Have Rejected IP Obviousness Appeal

    Author Photo

    Attorneys at Womble Bond analyze possible reasons the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Vanda Pharmaceuticals' request to review the Federal Circuit’s reasonable expectation of success standard for determining obviousness, including that the court was unpersuaded by the company's argument that Amgen v. Sanofi places a bind on drug developers.

  • Microplastics At The Crossroads Of Regulation And Litigation

    Author Photo

    Though there are currently not many federal regulations specifically addressing microplastics as pollutants, regulatory scrutiny and lawsuits asserting consumer protection claims are both on the rise, and manufacturers should take proactive steps to implement preventive measures accordingly, say Aliza Karetnick and Franco Corrado at Morgan Lewis.

  • The Fed. Circ. In April: Hurdles Remain For Generics

    Author Photo

    The Federal Circuit’s recent Salix v. Norwich ruling — where Salix's brand-name drug's patents were invalidated — is a reminder to patent practitioners that invalidating a competitor's patents may not guarantee abbreviated new drug application approval, say Sean Murray and Jeremiah Helm at Knobbe Martens.

  • Tylenol MDL Highlights Expert Admissibility Headaches

    Author Photo

    A New York federal court's decision to exclude all plaintiff experts in a multidistrict litigation concerning prenatal exposure to Tylenol highlights a number of expert testimony pitfalls that parties should avoid in product liability and mass tort matters, say Rand Brothers and Courtney Block at Winston & Strawn.

  • Don't Use The Same Template For Every Client Alert

    Author Photo

    As the old marketing adage goes, consistency is key, but law firm style guides need consistency that contemplates variety when it comes to client alert formats, allowing attorneys to tailor alerts to best fit the audience and subject matter, says Jessica Kaplan at Legally Penned.

  • Don't Fall On That Hill: Keys To Testifying Before Congress

    Author Photo

    Because congressional testimony often comes with political, reputational and financial risks in addition to legal pitfalls, witnesses and their attorneys should take a multifaceted approach to preparation, walking a fine line between legal and business considerations, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • Online Portal Helps Fortify Feds' Unfair Health Practices Fight

    Author Photo

    The Federal Trade Commission, U.S. Justice Department and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently launched an online portal where the public can report potentially unfair healthcare practices, effectively maximizing enforcers' abilities to police anti-competitive actions that can drive up healthcare costs and chill innovation, say attorneys at Seyfarth.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!