Deals & Corporate Governance
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March 18, 2025
Reg Attys Talk FTC Healthcare and Antitrust Under Ferguson
Regulatory attorneys focused on the healthcare industry aren't expecting huge changes in federal antitrust activity under new leadership at the Federal Trade Commission.
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March 18, 2025
AI Healthcare Co. Accuses Test-Maker Of Infringing Patents
Artificial intelligence-powered diagnostics company Tempus AI has accused medical test-maker Guardant Health of infringing numerous patents related to healthcare records platforms and ways of pinpointing patient biomarkers.
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March 18, 2025
Cigna Group GC Earned Nearly $5.8M Last Year
Cigna Group's top lawyer, who last week had her remit expanded to include enterprise marketing, earned nearly $5.8 million in 2024 — up slightly from her $5.3 million pay the previous year — according to a recent securities filing.
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March 18, 2025
Simpson Thacher Gains Securitization Expert In NY
A former Vinson & Elkins LLP aviation finance practice co-head has joined Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP as a New York partner, the firm said Tuesday.
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March 17, 2025
Court Won't Toss Biotech Co.'s Antitrust Counterclaim
A California federal court refused to toss claims from biotech company Zymo Research Corp. accusing rival Qiagen GmbH of filing a "sham" patent infringement suit against it to discredit a potential competitor in the DNA extraction market.
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March 17, 2025
4 Firms Guide Up To $1.14B Sale Of PE-Backed Biotech
Taiho Pharmaceuticals on Monday announced plans to acquire private equity-backed Swiss biotechnology company Araris Biotech for up to $1.14 billion in a deal built by four law firms.
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March 14, 2025
Fed. Circ. Affirms No Block On Amgen's Eye Med Biosimilar
The Federal Circuit on Friday agreed with a lower court decision declining to temporarily block Amgen's biosimilar of Regeneron's blockbuster eye medication Eylea, affirming that court's application of claim construction precedent in the patent infringement suit.
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March 13, 2025
Fed. Circ. Sides With Merck In Reissued Patent Debate
The Federal Circuit isn't buying that a reissued patent was actually "issued" at the time it was originally awarded, dashing generic-drug makers' hopes of breaking pharmaceutical giant Merck's hold on a blockbuster drug that counteracts the effects of anesthesia.
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March 13, 2025
Judge Won't Toss $35M Ch. 11 Bank Fee Clawback Lawsuit
A Delaware bankruptcy judge has denied a summary judgment bid to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that an $1.8 billion loan set medical testing company Millennium Laboratories on course for its 2015 Chapter 11.
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March 13, 2025
Full 4th Circ. Urged To Rethink Drug Price-Fixing Class Action
The Fourth Circuit's dismissal of a proposed class action accusing drug companies of conspiring to inflate the price of a drug for Huntington's disease has deepened a circuit split on proving injury under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, a group of reimbursement recovery entities has said in asking the full court to rethink the ruling.
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March 12, 2025
Law360 Cheat Sheet: Novartis' Fight Over Generic Entresto
Novartis has led a wide-ranging litigation campaign to block generic versions of its bestselling cardiovascular drug Entresto that has involved multidistrict litigation, trips to several circuit courts and cases against the federal government. Here, Law360 breaks down how the various cases intersect and what's still playing out.
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March 12, 2025
Caribou Biosciences Brass Face Investor's Clinical Trials Suit
Executives and directors of Caribou Biosciences Inc. have been hit with a shareholder's derivative suit alleging that they overstated the safety and efficacy of Caribou's cell therapy and concealed that the company was at risk of being unable to fund its operations.
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March 12, 2025
Mallinckrodt Investors Ask NJ Court To Approve $46M Deal
A group of Mallinckrodt PLC investors has asked a New Jersey federal judge to grant final approval to a $46 million settlement they reached with executives and directors of the pharmaceutical company to resolve claims that they misrepresented the prospects of a drug the company developed.
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March 11, 2025
Eli Lilly Suit Over Compounded Drugs Survives Dismissal
A Washington federal judge has trimmed Eli Lilly's lawsuit against two Seattle-area clinics and the doctors who run them for allegedly duping consumers into buying copycat versions of its diabetes and weight loss medications Mounjaro and Zepbound, nixing the pharmaceutical giant's consumer protection claim while preserving its trademark infringement and false advertising allegations.
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March 11, 2025
Takeaways From Biotech IPOs So Far In 2025
The first cohort of biotech initial public offerings this year is out the door and off to what experts say is an "OK" start that could get better as long as the right pieces come together for the space.
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March 11, 2025
Walgreens' $24B Take-Private Deal Moves It Out Of Spotlight
Walgreens' $23.7 billion deal with private equity firm Sycamore Partners will take the pharmacy retailer off the public market and ultimately out of the spotlight as it looks to quietly continue in its turnaround efforts.
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March 10, 2025
Masimo Founder Urges Toss Of 'Empty Voting' Suit
The founder of Masimo Corp. has urged a New York federal court to permanently toss the medical technology company's suit alleging he manipulated a shareholder vote, arguing that the suit fails to state a plausible claim under the Exchange Act.
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March 10, 2025
DOJ Wants In On Invisalign Monopoly Arguments At 9th Circ.
The U.S. Department of Justice wants to be there when orthodontists and consumers who purchased clear teeth aligners face off with the company behind Invisalign at the Ninth Circuit next month, so it can tell the appellate judges where the lower court went wrong in killing their monopoly suits.
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March 07, 2025
Taxation With Representation: Kirkland, Wachtell, Skadden
In this week's Taxation With Representation, Walgreens Boots Alliance goes private via a deal with Sycamore Partners, Honeywell buys Sundyne from Warburg Pincus, and Jazz Pharmaceuticals acquires Chimerix.
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March 06, 2025
FTC Challenges PE Firm's Medical Device Coatings Deal
The Federal Trade Commission moved Thursday to block private equity firm GTCR BC Holdings LLC's planned $627 million acquisition of Surmodics Inc. over concerns about competition for medical device coatings.
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March 06, 2025
Walgreens Boots Inks $24B Go-Private Deal With Sycamore
Walgreens Boots Alliance said Thursday it has agreed to be purchased by private equity firm Sycamore Partners in a transaction with a total value of up to $23.7 billion, as the storied retailer looks to reverse years of financial declines by going private.
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March 06, 2025
Kirkland-Led Medical Device Firm Prices Upsized $202M IPO
Shares of Kestra Medical Technologies Ltd. soared in debut trading Thursday after the maker of wearable defibrillators priced an upsized $202 million initial public offering above its range, represented by Kirkland & Ellis LLP and underwriters' counsel Allen Overy Shearman Sterling LLP.
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March 05, 2025
Pfizer, BioNTech Get PTAB To Invalidate Moderna Vaccine IP
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board handed a massive victory to Pfizer and BioNTech on Wednesday, as it invalidated two Moderna patents covering its Spikevax COVID-19 vaccine, which the challengers stand accused of infringing.
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March 05, 2025
DOJ Fights Bid To Pause Piece Of Amedisys Merger Case
The U.S. Department of Justice is opposing a bid from Amedisys to pause allegations that it shirked its merger filing requirements until after a trial on UnitedHealth's acquisition of the home health and hospice company.
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March 05, 2025
3 Firms Build Jazz Pharmaceuticals' $935M Chimerix Buy
Jazz Pharmaceuticals on Wednesday revealed plans to acquire biopharmaceutical company Chimerix in a $935 million deal built by three law firms that will further diversify Jazz's oncology portfolio.
Expert Analysis
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SBA Proposal Materially Alters Contractor Recertification
The Small Business Administration's new proposed rule on recertification affects eligibility for set-aside contracts, significantly alters the landscape for mergers and acquisitions in the government contracts industry, and could have other unintended downstream consequences, says Sam Finnerty at PilieroMazza.
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Firms Must Offer A Trifecta Of Services In Post-Chevron World
After the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision overturning Chevron deference, law firms will need to integrate litigation, lobbying and communications functions to keep up with the ramifications of the ruling and provide adequate counsel quickly, says Neil Hare at Dentons.
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Del. Dispatch: Director Caremark Claims Need Extreme Facts
The Delaware Court of Chancery recently dismissed Caremark claims against the directors of Centene in Bricklayers Pension Fund of Western Pennsylvania v. Brinkley, indicating a high bar for a finding of the required element of bad faith for Caremark liability, and stressing the need to resist hindsight bias, say attorneys at Fried Frank.
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PE Firms Should Prepare For Increased False Claims Scrutiny
The impact private equity firms may have over medical decisions and care is increasingly attracting potential liability under the False Claims Act and attention from states and the federal government, so investors should follow best practices including conducting due diligence both before and after acquisitions, say attorneys at K&L Gates.
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Unpacking HHS' Opinion On Cell Therapy Refund Programs
A recent advisory opinion from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, determining that a biopharma company's refund program for its cell therapy will not be penalized, indicates an encouraging willingness to engage, but the regulator's assumptions about the program's limited term warrant a closer look, says Mary Kohler at Kohler Health.
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How 5 States' Deal Notification Laws Are Guiding Healthcare
Healthcare transaction notification laws at various stages of implementation in California, Illinois, Indiana, Oregon and Washington are shaping sector mergers and acquisitions, with significant transparency, continuity of care and compliance implications as providers tackle complex regulatory requirements, says Melesa Freerks at DLA Piper.
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The Good, The Bad And The Ugly Of Healthcare's PE Boom
While an influx of capital may provide access to new resources and innovative technologies, the private equity model's method of funding may be fundamentally at odds with patient-first healthcare, and in recent years that inherent tension has gotten ugly, say Eva Gunasekera and Jaclyn Tayabji at Tycko & Zavareei.
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High Court Made Profound Mistake In Tossing Purdue Deal
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to throw out Purdue Pharma's Chapter 11 plan jeopardizes a multistate agreement that would provide approximately $7 billion in much-needed relief to help fight the opioid epidemic, with states now likely doomed to spend years chasing individual defendants across the globe, says Swain Wood at Morningstar.
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After Chevron: Scale Tips Favor Away From HHS Agencies
The loss of Chevron deference may indirectly aid parties in challenging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' interpretations of regulations and could immediately influence several pending cases challenging HHS on technical questions and agency authority, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
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After Chevron: FDA Regulations In The Crosshairs
The U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of the Chevron doctrine is likely to unleash an array of challenges against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, focusing on areas of potential overreach such as the FDA's authority under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, say attorneys at Debevoise.
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Navigating Scrutiny Of Friendly Professional Corps. In Calif.
In light of ongoing scrutiny and challenges to private equity participation in the California healthcare marketplace, particularly surrounding the use of the friendly professional corporation model, management services organizations should consider implementing four best practices, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.
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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: June Lessons
In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy considers two recent decisions from the Third and Tenth Circuits, and identifies practice tips around class action settlements and standing in securities litigation.
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The Current State Of Healthcare Transaction Reviews In Calif.
As of April, certain healthcare transactions in California have been subject to additional notification compliance requirements, and complying with these new rules could significantly delay and discourage some deals, says Andrew Demetriou at Husch Blackwell.