Life Sciences

  • January 22, 2025

    9th Circ. Won't Revive Express Scripts Generics Dispute

    A Ninth Circuit panel won't renew a suit accusing Express Scripts of shortchanging a Seattle pharmacy on reimbursements for the generic version of HIV/AIDS drug Truvada, finding that only the name-brand prescription was listed in their contract as a "covered specialty medication" entitled to a higher payback rate.  

  • January 22, 2025

    Wyden Urges National Standard For Hemp Regulation

    Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., rallied on Wednesday for his bill that would beef up regulation of products with hemp-derived cannabinoids in order to protect consumers, particularly children.

  • January 22, 2025

    Cooley-Led Insulin Device Maker Preps $113M IPO

    Insulin delivery system maker Beta Bionics on Wednesday announced the terms for its initial public offering, planning to raise $113 million.

  • January 22, 2025

    Nixed Invitae Asset Buyer Asks Ch. 11 Court To Stop Litigation

    Genetic testing company Natera has launched an adversary lawsuit against Invitae, a competitor that sought insolvency protection last year, asking a New Jersey bankruptcy judge to stop Invitae's Chapter 11 plan administrator from collecting payments owed under a rejected contract.

  • January 21, 2025

    Key Justices Stay Quiet As High Court Weighs FCC Deference

    Several U.S. Supreme Court justices on Tuesday appeared open to giving district courts more leeway to review the Federal Communciations Commission's tome of regulations under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, although the two justices expected to cast pivotal votes refrained from posing questions. 

  • January 21, 2025

    Intuitive Seeks Midtrial End To Robo-Surgery Antitrust Suit

    Before calling its first defense witness Tuesday, Intuitive Surgical urged a federal judge to find in its favor in a trial over claims that it abused its market dominance by blocking third parties from refurbishing a component of its da Vinci surgery robot, saying there's no evidence of an unlawful tying arrangement.

  • January 21, 2025

    The Legal And Practical Questions Around Trump's WHO Exit

    President Donald Trump’s first-day order setting in motion the United States’ withdrawal from the World Health Organization could leave the nation less prepared for global health threats and trigger legal clashes over the president’s authority to act unilaterally.

  • January 21, 2025

    Last Sackler Family Members Join Purdue Draft Deal

    The final holdouts among two branches of Sackler family members are ready to join a settlement in the bankruptcy of OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP, a business owned by the family, according to a report from the co-mediators handling negotiations.

  • January 21, 2025

    Bacon Giant Smithfields Leads 3 IPOs Primed To Exceed $1B

    Bacon maker Smithfields Foods Inc. led a trio of companies unveiling price ranges for initial public offerings Tuesday that could raise $1.3 billion combined over the next week, with 10 law firms guiding the IPOs in various capacities.

  • January 21, 2025

    Trump Taps Pot Legalization Opponent As Acting DEA Head

    A stalled effort to loosen federal restrictions on marijuana will be overseen, at least temporarily, by a former U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent who has previously spoken out against marijuana reform and specifically criticized the former administration's bid to recategorize the drug.

  • January 21, 2025

    Justices Doubt Retailers Are 'Bystanders' In FDA Challenge

    Several U.S. Supreme Court justices appeared to agree Tuesday that Texas and Mississippi retailers could join a North Carolina e-cigarette manufacturer in challenging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's denial of its marketing application, and Justice Clarence Thomas questioned the agency's motivation to argue otherwise.

  • January 21, 2025

    Firm Slams Beasley Allen's Bid To Nix Suit Over Talc Team-Up

    Smith Law Firm PLLC is urging a Mississippi federal court to reject Beasley Allen Law Firm's bid to dismiss or transfer a defamation and breach of contract lawsuit over their joint venture agreement for talc litigation against Johnson & Johnson, saying the case shouldn't be thrown out in favor of Beasley Allen's Alabama suit.

  • January 21, 2025

    What IP Attorneys Need To Know From Trump's First Days

    Since the Trump administration took over on Monday, a new acting director for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has been sworn in, federal workers have been mandated to return to working in person and the Biden administration's artificial intelligence executive order has been rescinded. Here's what IP attorneys should know.

  • January 17, 2025

    Law360 Names Practice Groups Of The Year

    Law360 would like to congratulate the winners of its Practice Groups of the Year awards for 2024, which honor the attorney teams behind litigation wins and significant transaction work that resonated throughout the legal industry this past year.

  • January 17, 2025

    Law360 Names Firms Of The Year

    Eight law firms have earned spots as Law360's Firms of the Year, with 54 Practice Group of the Year awards among them, steering some of the largest deals of 2024 and securing high-profile litigation wins, including at the U.S. Supreme Court.

  • January 20, 2025

    Trump, Musk Sued By Nonprofits Over DOGE Transparency

    Public Citizen and other nonprofits hit the Trump administration with multiple lawsuits seeking to shut down the new Department of Government Efficiency in D.C. federal court Monday, alleging the Elon Musk-led advisory committee targeting government waste lacks requisite transparency guardrails to prevent DOGE from solely advancing private interests.

  • January 17, 2025

    Walgreens Knowingly Filled Invalid Prescriptions, Feds Say

    The U.S. Department of Justice has accused Walgreens of knowingly filling millions of prescriptions for opioids and other controlled substances that did not have a legitimate medical purpose or were not valid, intervening in cases brought by four whistleblowers in Illinois federal court.

  • January 17, 2025

    MSN Wants Generic Entresto Launch After Patent Expired

    MSN Pharmaceuticals asked the Federal Circuit Friday to let it launch its generic version of Novartis' blockbuster heart drug Entresto while the drugmakers continue their litigation over a newly expired patent, by lifting a temporary injunction barring that launch.

  • January 17, 2025

    Bayer, J&J Minimized Drug Reaction Data, 3rd Circ. Told

    A doctor urged the Third Circuit on Friday to revive his whistleblower suit against Bayer Corp. and Johnson & Johnson, arguing that the drugmakers' regulatory approval applications played down the side effects of the antibiotics Cipro and Levaquin.

  • January 17, 2025

    Up Next At High Court: Forum Shopping & TCPA Definitions

    The U.S. Supreme Court will return to the bench Tuesday for a short argument session, during which the justices will consider the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's bid to limit forum shopping by manufacturers challenging agency decisions and how much deference district courts must give to Federal Communications Commission orders.

  • January 17, 2025

    NC Biotech Co. Can't Restrain Co-Founder's Rival Biz Yet

    A biotechnology company can't stop its co-founder from conducting research and soliciting customers at his new company using what it believes is stolen confidential information, a North Carolina state court judge said Friday, pointing to a lack of urgency and glaring holes in the record.

  • January 17, 2025

    3rd Circ. Vexed By Remedies For Defunct Vax Mandate

    The Third Circuit wrestled Friday with how it could remedy injuries claimed to be suffered by nurses who lost their jobs for not complying with New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy's vaccine mandate for healthcare workers, asking what order it could give about something that is no longer in effect and about jobs they no longer have.

  • January 17, 2025

    Duke U. Strikes Deal In Female Scientist's Pay Bias Suit

    Duke University and a female scientist have brokered an agreement to end her suit claiming she was paid less than her male counterparts and was threatened with demotions after complaining about it, according to a Friday filing in North Carolina federal court.

  • January 17, 2025

    Crown Labs Tops Rival Bid In Quest To Buy Biotech Revance

    Skincare product company Crown Laboratories Inc. has offered to raise its all-cash bid to buy healthcare biotech company Revance Therapeutics Inc. from $3.10 per share to $3.65 per share as it seeks to beat out a surprise bid from a Revance shareholder, according to a securities filing on Friday. 

  • January 17, 2025

    1st Circ. Revives Biotech Worker's COVID-19 Vax Challenge

    The First Circuit on Thursday resuscitated religious discrimination claims brought by a former pharmaceutical company employee who alleged her employer's COVID-19 vaccination mandate during the pandemic was in conflict with her sincerely held religious beliefs.

Expert Analysis

  • How AstraZeneca Ruling Could Change Dosage Patent Claims

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    If affirmed on appeal, the rationale employed by the Delaware federal court in Wyeth v. AstraZeneca to find "unit dosage"-related patent claims invalid could lead to a significant paradigm shift in how active-ingredient-focused patent applications are drafted and litigated, say Matthew Zapadka and John Schneible at Arnall Golden.

  • Failed W.Va. Patent Challenge Reveals Secret Prior Art's Risks

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    A West Virginia federal court's recent ruling — that references used by a patent challenger to establish an ordinarily skilled artisan's existing knowledge must be published before a patent's filing — may discourage claim construction challenges based on secret prior art and steer drafters away from externally defined terms, says Brianna Potter at Baker Botts.

  • Navigating Decentralized Clinical Trials With FDA's Guidance

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    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's recently finalized guidance on conducting decentralized clinical trials, while not legally binding, can serve as a road map for sponsors, investigators and others to ensure trial integrity and participant safety, say attorneys at Phillips Lytle.

  • The Bar Needs More Clarity On The Discovery Objection Rule

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    Almost 10 years after Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 34 was amended, attorneys still seem confused about what they should include in objections to discovery requests, and until the rules committee provides additional clarity, practitioners must beware the steep costs of noncompliance, says Tristan Ellis at Shanies Law Office.

  • How Patent Landscape Analysis Drives Business Growth

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    Keegan Caldwell at Caldwell Law explores how patent landscape analysis serves as a key driver of sustainable growth — examining how its components, strategic advantages and implementation best practices are reshaping innovation leadership.

  • In Terror Case, DC Circ. Must Weigh Justices' Twitter Ruling

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    When the D.C. Circuit hears oral argument in AstraZeneca UK v. Atchley, how the court interprets the U.S. Supreme Court's 2023 ruling in Twitter v. Taamneh will have a significant impact on future claims brought under the Anti-Terrorism Act and Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, say attorneys at Lewis Baach.

  • Marching In On Orange Book Drugs May Have Limited Effect

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    Statistical analysis shows that marching in on Orange Book drug patent holders to require additional licensees would have a relatively minimal impact on drug prices, and should be weighed against the harms it could have on pharmaceutical innovation, say researchers at Competition Dynamics.

  • Series

    Being A Navy Reservist Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Serving this country in uniform has not only been one of the greatest honors of my life, but it has also provided me with opportunities to broaden my legal acumen and interpersonal skills in ways that have indelibly contributed to my civilian practice, says Phillip Smith at Weinberg Wheeler.

  • Incoming Admin May Shake Up Life Sciences Regulation

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    Though President-elect Donald Trump has not yet articulated policy priorities regarding the life sciences industry, the sector is positioned to see significant changes that could affect everything from drug exclusivity and generic drug approvals, to the availability of over-the-counter drugs, to laboratory-developed tests and digital health, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Next Steps In The $2.8B Blue Cross Payout To Providers

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    Healthcare providers deciding whether to participate in Blue Cross Blue Shield network's recent $2.8 billion antitrust class action settlement must weigh key recovery factors, including provider type and litigation cost, say attorneys at Hall Render.

  • So You Want To Move Your Law Practice To Canada, Eh?

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    Google searches for how to move to Canada have surged in the wake of the U.S. presidential election, and if you’re an attorney considering a move to the Great White North, you’ll need to understand how the practice of law differs across the border, says David Postel at Henein Hutchison.

  • What To Expect Next From Federal Health Tech Regulation

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    Healthcare organizations should pay close attention to federal health information technology regulators' recent guidance concerning barriers to accessing electronic health information, which signals that more enforcement in this area is likely forthcoming, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • Trump Rollback Of Biden Enviro Policies: What To Expect

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    Donald Trump's upcoming second presidential term will usher significant shifts in U.S. environmental and natural resource law and policy — and while the Biden administration is racing to secure its legacy, the incoming Trump administration is making plans to dramatically roll back most, if not all, of Biden's environmental initiatives, say attorneys at Beveridge & Diamond.

  • Takeaways From State Votes On Abortion In The 2024 Election

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    Attorneys at Epstein Becker discuss how 10 states voted on ballot initiatives to either protect or restrict access to abortion in the 2024 general election, and analyze overarching trends.

  • Key Territory-Split Licensing Lessons For Life Sciences Cos.

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    Territory-split deals can allow life sciences companies to maximize products' potential across a range of geographic areas, but these deals also present unique challenges requiring highly bespoke structures that can make or break the value of an asset, say attorneys at Covington.

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