Life Sciences

  • November 14, 2024

    Trump Picks RFK Jr. To Lead Health & Human Services

    President-elect Donald Trump announced Thursday that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent anti-vaccination activist and former presidential candidate, is his nominee to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

  • November 13, 2024

    Guardant Atty Accuses Natera CEO Of Dishonesty At Trial

    A Guardant Health lawyer on Wednesday accused Natera's CEO of being disingenuous when he testified at trial that a Natera ad campaign was aimed at correcting misleading information Guardant promoted about its competing colorectal cancer tests, exclaiming, "It was about money, wasn't it? Can't you just be honest about that?"

  • November 13, 2024

    Damages Limited In AGs' Generic Drug Price-Fixing Case

    A Connecticut federal judge has nixed some claims against Sandoz Inc. and other generic-drug makers in a massive antitrust and unfair trade practices case filed by state attorneys general, finding that a handful of the enforcers cannot seek damages on behalf of their allegedly injured citizens.

  • November 13, 2024

    Honey Pot Greenwashes 'Plant-Derived' Products, Suit Says

    The Honey Pot Co. faces a proposed false advertising class action filed Tuesday in California federal court by customers who allege its line of organic feminine care products, which includes foam washes, wipes, pads and liners, contain synthetic ingredients, despite being labeled as "plant-derived."

  • November 13, 2024

    Ozempic MDL Plaintiffs Say Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk Hid Risks

    Patients accusing Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly & Co. of failing to warn them about the risks associated with Ozempic and other such medications on Wednesday filed a massive master complaint in the sprawling multidistrict litigation centralized in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

  • November 13, 2024

    Alnylam Says It's Not A 'Patent Troll' In Vax IP Row

    Alnylam Pharmaceuticals has shot back at Moderna's request for about $2.8 million in legal costs it incurred defending a patent suit over its coronavirus vaccine, saying Moderna is wrongly trying to paint it as "a pernicious patent troll."

  • November 13, 2024

    TikTok Asks To Keep NC AG's Addiction Complaint Redacted

    TikTok Inc. is asking a North Carolina state court to keep redacted portions of a complaint by the state alleging that it targets youth to make them compulsive and addicted users, saying parts of the complaint include information from confidential documents and trade secrets.

  • November 13, 2024

    Baltimore Wins $266M In McKesson, Cencora Opioid Case

    Baltimore has been awarded more than $266 million in damages from drug distributors McKesson and Cencora, which a jury found responsible for fueling the opioid epidemic in the city, the mayor's office announced Tuesday.

  • November 13, 2024

    Biotech Brass Misled Investors About Cancer Drugs, Suit Says

    Executives and directors of biotechnology company Agenus Inc. have been hit with a shareholder derivative suit in Massachusetts federal court alleging that the company misled investors about the effectiveness of its mainstay cancer treatments.

  • November 13, 2024

    Trump's Choice Of Matt Gaetz For AG Hints At Cannabis Policy

    President-elect Donald Trump's announcement Wednesday that he would nominate Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., one of the relatively few Republican proponents of cannabis legalization, to be the next U.S. attorney general marks an early sign of how his administration will consider marijuana policy.

  • November 12, 2024

    Trump Taps Elon Musk To Head New 'Gov't Efficiency' Dept.

    President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday that billionaire Elon Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will lead a newly created "Department in Government Efficiency" for his administration come January.

  • November 12, 2024

    Masimo Can't Tie Alleged IP Theft To Apple Profits, Expert Says

    An Apple expert witness defended the company Tuesday in a California federal bench trial over Masimo's claim that the tech giant stole pulse oximetry trade secrets for its popular smartwatch, testifying Masimo cannot tie any value to the purported secrets and that Apple's profits can't be attributed to the watch's blood oxygen features.

  • November 12, 2024

    Guardant CEO Says Rival's False Ads Hurt 'Beautiful Baby'

    Guardant Health's CEO testified Tuesday in his company's false advertising suit against Natera Inc. that its rival's "misleading" ad campaign hurt Guardant's colorectal cancer test launch, saying he felt like somebody had taken their "beautiful baby" and "slammed its head against the wall."

  • November 12, 2024

    Justices Told Fed. Circ. Overstep Claims Are 'Simply Incorrect'

    A unit of pharmaceutical company Alvogen on Tuesday urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reject a petition from the company whose blockbuster IBS drug it's hoping to copy, saying the "petition's fundamental premise" that the Federal Circuit went beyond its legal boundaries "is simply incorrect."

  • November 12, 2024

    HIV Drug Buyers Want Gilead Product Switch Claims Revived

    Insurers and benefit plans are asking the Ninth Circuit to revive a chunk of their antitrust case against Gilead, arguing their claims that Gilead delayed generic competition to its HIV drugs by monopolizing the market should have new life.

  • November 12, 2024

    J&J Says HHS Is Thwarting Transparency Of Drug Discounts

    Johnson & Johnson claims the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is thwarting its efforts to crack down on hospitals the company alleges are "reaping immense profits" on reduced-price medications without passing those discounts on to patients, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in D.C. federal court.

  • November 12, 2024

    Elanco Pays $15M SEC Fine To Settle Sales Incentive Claims

    Elanco Animal Health Inc. has agreed to pay a $15 million fine to resolve U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission allegations that it deceptively juiced revenues with distributor sales incentives between 2019 and 2020, the regulator announced Tuesday.

  • November 12, 2024

    GOP Reps. Propose Another Bill On TRIPS Waivers

    A new bill from Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives seeks to force the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to file a report "before the negotiation of any international agreement relating to an intellectual property right."

  • November 12, 2024

    Unsatisfied With $70M UTC Win, Sandoz Appeals To 3rd Circ.

    Sandoz Inc. has moved to appeal its already $70 million-plus breach of contract damages win over biopharmaceutical firm United Therapeutics Corp., teeing up a Third Circuit request to ask for more damages and to revive antitrust claims previously tossed by a New Jersey federal court.

  • November 12, 2024

    Feds Can Hold Proceeds During Chinese Syringe Duties Fight

    A U.S. Court of International Trade judge has approved a stipulation between the federal government and a Texas importer allowing the government to hold onto duties collected on Chinese syringes while the importer challenges the amount being charged.

  • November 12, 2024

    DOJ Suing To Block UnitedHealth Unit's $3.3B Amedisys Deal

    The U.S. Department of Justice and four U.S. states filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking to block UnitedHealth Group's Optum unit from going through with its planned $3.3 billion purchase of Amedisys Inc., arguing the deal will harm competition in the home health and hospice services. 

  • November 08, 2024

    NJ Ethics Board Escapes Contempt Bid In Retaliation Fight

    A New Jersey judge Friday denied a former state health official's bid to hold a Garden State ethics agency in contempt over stalled discovery in his wrongful termination suit, ruling there was no basis for the court to conclude there was any type of willful conduct to not comply with a discovery order.

  • November 08, 2024

    Apple Didn't Hire Cercacor CTO To Steal Watch IP, Ex-VP Says

    A retired Apple executive defended the tech giant Friday in Masimo's trade secret suit over pulse oximetry technology, testifying in California federal court that Apple didn't hire a Masimo spinoff's chief technology office in order to obtain confidential information for the Apple Watch and never received any such information.

  • November 08, 2024

    5th Time Not The Charm For 'Stale' Dow Implant Check Fight

    The Sixth Circuit has again rejected an appeal from South Korean claimants who sought replacement checks from a Dow Corning breast implant settlement fund, finding in claimants' fifth trip to the appeals court that they missed their window to cash their duly disbursed settlement checks.

  • November 08, 2024

    J&J Talc Unit Must Revise Ch. 11 Plan, Insurers Say

    A group of Johnson & Johnson insurance carriers urged a Texas judge to reject the Chapter 11 plan disclosure statement for the company's Red River Talc unit as unconfirmable, saying J&J "made it clear that it intends to saddle its insurers with responsibility to pay" for the bankruptcy-related claims.

Expert Analysis

  • How Patent Litigation Is Changing Amid Decline In Filings

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    Marked by a notable decline in case filings and preferred venue shifts, patent litigation has undergone significant changes over the last decade and litigation hot spots have shifted, encouraging a more strategic approach to patent disputes, says Saishruti Mutneja at Winston & Strawn.

  • Mental Health First Aid: A Brief Primer For Attorneys

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    Amid a growing body of research finding that attorneys face higher rates of mental illness than the general population, firms should consider setting up mental health first aid training programs to help lawyers assess mental health challenges in their colleagues and intervene with compassion, say psychologists Shawn Healy and Tracey Meyers.

  • Opinion

    FTC's Report Criticizing Drug Middlemen Is Flawed

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    The Federal Trade Commission's July report, which claims that pharmacy benefit managers are inflating drug costs, does not offer a credible analysis of PBMs, and its methodology lacks rigor, says Jay Ezrielev at Elevecon.

  • Series

    Collecting Art Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The therapeutic aspects of appreciating and collecting art improve my legal practice by enhancing my observation skills, empathy, creativity and cultural awareness, says attorney Michael McCready.

  • Del. Dispatch: Cautionary Tales Of 2 Earnout Effort Breaches

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    The Delaware Court of Chancery's tendency to interpret earnout provisions precisely as written, highlighted in two September rulings that found buyers breached their shareholder obligations when they failed to make reasonable efforts to hit certain product development milestones, demonstrates the paramount importance of precisely wording these agreements, say attorneys at Fried Frank.

  • Takeaways From Novo Nordisk's Fight For Market Exclusivity

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    Generic competitors’ challenge to Novo Nordisk’s patents in hopes of capturing a portion of the rapidly expanding Type 2 diabetes and obesity treatment market highlights the role of abbreviated new drug application litigation, inter partes review and multidistrict litigation in patent defense, says Pedram Sameni at Patexia.

  • Using Primacy And Recency Effects In Opening Statements

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    By understanding and strategically employing the primacy and recency effects in opening statements, attorneys can significantly enhance their persuasive impact, ensuring that their narrative is both compelling and memorable from the outset, says Bill Kanasky at Courtroom Sciences.

  • Secret Service Failures Offer Lessons For Private Sector GCs

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    The Secret Service’s problematic response to two assassination attempts against former President Donald Trump this summer provides a crash course for general counsel on how not to handle crisis communications, says Keith Nahigian at Nahigian Strategies.

  • Opinion

    Bill Is Key To Protecting US Economy From Patent Piracy

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    It is critical that Congress pass a recently introduced bill that would protect U.S. investors from intellectual property theft by restoring court-ordered injunctions as the default remedy in patent infringement cases to ensure inventors get the justice they deserve, says Andrei Iancu at Sullivan & Cromwell.

  • Defending AI, Machine Learning Patents In Life Sciences

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    Ten years after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Alice v. CLS Bank, artificial intelligence and machine learning technology remain at risk for Alice challenges, but reviewing recent cases can help life sciences companies avoid common pitfalls and successfully defend their patents, say attorneys at Mintz.

  • Litigation Inspiration: Honoring Your Learned Profession

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    About 30,000 people who took the bar exam in July will learn they passed this fall, marking a fitting time for all attorneys to remember that they are members in a specialty club of learned professionals — and the more they can keep this in mind, the more benefits they will see, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • From Concept To Capital: 5 Stages Of Evolving IP Needs

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    Companies must understand the shifting intellectual property needs throughout an organization’s life cycle in order to protect innovation, which can be done by fortifying the IP portfolio, expanding and leveraging IP assets, and more, says Keegan Caldwell at Caldwell Law.

  • Allergan Ruling Reinforces Value Of Patent Term Adjustments

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    The Federal Circuit’s recent ruling in Allergan v. MSN, which held that patent term adjustment awards for first-filed, first-issued patents cannot be stripped away by later-issuing child patents that expire earlier, means practitioners must consider the potential impact of any action that might reduce the adjustment amount, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • FTC Focus: How Scrutiny Of PBMs And Insulin May Play Out

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    Should Express Scripts' recent judicial challenge to the Federal Trade Commission succeed, any new targets could add litigation and choice of forum to their playbooks, and potential FTC court action on insulin could be forced to parallel venues as the issues between the commission and PBMs evolve, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • Opinion

    AI May Limit Key Learning Opportunities For Young Attorneys

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    The thing that’s so powerful about artificial intelligence is also what’s most scary about it — its ability to detect patterns may curtail young attorneys’ chance to practice the lower-level work of managing cases, preventing them from ever honing the pattern recognition skills that undergird creative lawyering, says Sarah Murray at Trialcraft.

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