Deals & Corporate Governance

  • March 25, 2025

    Healthcare Deals This Week: Merck, J&J And Startups Galore

    It's been a busy week for healthcare. Several Big Pharma players inked licensing deals in areas like cardiology and cancer and others said they would up their U.S. manufacturing investments, continuing a growing trend for companies in the space.

  • March 25, 2025

    Pension Seeks To Opt Class Out Of Cutera Ch. 11 Releases

    A pension fund heading up a class action against skin care technology group Cutera has urged a Texas bankruptcy court to find the shareholder has authority to opt all class members out of the company's Chapter 11 plan.

  • March 25, 2025

    Crowell & Moring Healthcare Vet Jumps To Sheppard Mullin

    A longtime Crowell & Moring LLP partner has moved his healthcare-focused practice to Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP's office in Washington, D.C., the firm announced Tuesday.

  • March 25, 2025

    Merck Betting Up To $2B On China-Developed Cardio Drug

    Pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. Inc., advised by Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP and Covington & Burling LLP, said on Tuesday it has entered into an exclusive license agreement with Cooley LLP-led pharmaceutical company Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. under which Merck will pay up to nearly $2 billion to the Chinese pharmaceutical business.

  • March 25, 2025

    Meitar-Led Navina Wraps $55M Series C Funding Round

    Artificial intelligence-powered clinical intelligence company Navina, advised by Meitar, announced on Tuesday that it clinched a $55 million Series C funding round, bringing its total amount raised to $100 million.

  • March 25, 2025

    4th Circ. Won't Rehear Drug Price-Fixing Class Action

    The Fourth Circuit said Tuesday it will not hold a full court rehearing of its panel decision to back the dismissal of a proposed class action accusing drugmakers of conspiring and inflating the price of a medication for Huntington's disease, a suit the panel called "shaky at best."

  • March 24, 2025

    Kenvue, J&J Must Face Investor Suit Over FDA Concerns

    Consumer health products business Kenvue Inc. and former parent company Johnson & Johnson cannot escape a consolidated lawsuit accusing the companies of failing to warn investors about the potential ineffectiveness of leading products like Tylenol and Sudafed ahead of Kenvue's initial public offering, a New Jersey federal judge ruled on Monday.

  • March 24, 2025

    Fla. Judge OKs $19.3M In Spinal Products Noncompete Suit

    A Florida federal judge approved a $19.3 million judgment against the owner of a distributor and his affiliated companies, finding that he owes damages for breaching an exclusive sales agreement with a spinal products manufacturer in a case with a "tortured history" that lasted for more than six years.

  • March 24, 2025

    Residents Rip Hospital Co.'s 'Scorched-Earth' Sanctions Bid

    A proposed class of Connecticut residents pursuing antitrust claims against Hartford HealthCare Corp. slammed the company's bid to sanction them for seeking judicial enforcement of a document exchange deal the parties had reached, arguing that sanctions would only complicate discovery rather than help it along.

  • March 24, 2025

    Norton Rose, Latham Steer Alcon's $430M Lensar Buy

    Eye care company Alcon, advised by Norton Rose Fulbright, unveiled on Monday an agreement to purchase medical technology developer Lensar, which is represented by Latham & Watkins LLP, for up to $430 million.

  • March 21, 2025

    Bausch & Lomb Says Amcor Must Pay For Botched Bottles

    A packaging company evaded quality controls to deliver defective plastic bottles that caused a slowdown in manufacturing at a Bausch & Lomb facility, the eye care company has claimed in a complaint filed in Michigan federal court.

  • March 20, 2025

    Judge Won't Let Meijer Appeal Takeda's Arbitration Mandate

    A Massachusetts federal judge refused Thursday to let Meijer immediately appeal his order letting Takeda Pharmaceutical force the grocery chain into arbitration and out of its role as a representative of a proposed class of direct purchasers suing over delayed generics to a constipation drug.

  • March 20, 2025

    Medical Malpractice Insurers Ink $1.3B Merger Deal

    Physician-owned medical malpractice insurer The Doctors Company has agreed to acquire ProAssurance Corp. in a deal valued at approximately $1.3 billion, in what the company said will create a combined entity with approximately $12 billion in assets.

  • March 20, 2025

    Minn. Bill Seeks Millionaire Tax To Offset Medicaid Cuts

    Minnesota would create a new tax bracket for individual income above $1 million and set the tax rate at a level to offset estimated changes in federal Medicaid funding under legislation introduced Thursday in the state Senate.

  • March 19, 2025

    AI Chatbot Co. LivePerson Beats Shareholder Suit For Good

    A New York federal judge on Wednesday tossed for good a consolidated shareholder class action alleging that chatbot developer LivePerson Inc. misled investors about its post-COVID financial performance and the purported success of WildHealth, a health-focused company it acquired.

  • March 19, 2025

    Sotera Beats Shareholder Suit Over Sterigenics Emissions

    Life sciences company Sotera Health has beaten a shareholder suit alleging it made a series of false and misleading statements about its environmental controls and liability exposure from numerous lawsuits against subsidiary Sterigenics, with the court ruling the plaintiffs have not shown the company intended to deceive the public.

  • March 19, 2025

    NC Captive Insurer's Owner Can't Shirk Self-Dealing Claims

    North Carolina's business court has largely rejected a majority shareholder's efforts to curtail claims he seized control of a captive insurance company only to run it into the ground, finding the suit sufficiently ties him to unpaid premiums that dried up the insurer's sole source of revenue.

  • March 19, 2025

    Law360 Announces The Members Of Its 2025 Editorial Boards

    Law360 is pleased to announce the formation of its 2025 Editorial Advisory Boards.

  • March 19, 2025

    Healthcare Consultant Says Tufts Medicine Owes $1M

    Hospital operator Tufts Medicine has failed to pay more than $1 million in fees and commissions to healthcare consulting group Sellers Dorsey & Associates LLC, according to a lawsuit filed in Massachusetts state court.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

Expert Analysis

  • Tips For Healthcare M&A Amid Heightened Antitrust Scrutiny

    Author Photo

    As the Biden administration maintains its aggressive approach to antitrust merger enforcement, prudent healthcare M&A counsel will consider practical advice when contemplating their next transaction, including carefully selecting a merger partner and preparing for a potentially long waiting period prior to closing, say attorneys at Davis Wright.

  • Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents

    Author Photo

    Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.

  • 5 Trends To Watch As Value-Based Healthcare Gains Steam

    Author Photo

    Value-based care has grown and evolved as healthcare providers, payors and policymakers seek to improve patient results while containing costs, and this shift in the industry is expected to accelerate in the near future, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • What's At Play In Rising Lanham Act Cases At The ITC

    Author Photo

    Amid an uptick in Lanham Act claims involving false advertising related to medical devices at the U.S. International Trade Commission, Brian Busey and Maryrose McLaughlin at MoFo discuss recent ITC complaints from Eli Lilly and R.J. Reynolds, Lanham Act claim limits under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and the issues practitioners face in this realm.

  • What Workplace Violence Law Means For Texas Healthcare

    Author Photo

    While no federal laws address violence against healthcare workers, Texas has recently enacted statutory protections that take effect later this year — so facilities in the state should understand their new obligations under the law, and employers in other states would be wise to take notice as well, say attorneys at Bradley Arant.

  • 5 Models For Structuring Health Provider-Payor Partnerships

    Author Photo

    With recent data showing that the U.S. continues to spend more and get less for healthcare services compared to other industrialized nations, providers and payors should consider a variety of partnership structures that can help achieve the so-called triple aim of improving the health of individuals and populations while reducing per capita costs, says John Howard at Thompson Coburn.

  • What FTC's 'Killer Acquisition' Theory Means For Pharma Cos.

    Author Photo

    The Federal Trade Commission's recent lawsuit to block Sanofi's acquisition of a pharmaceutical treatment developed by Maze Therapeutics builds on previous enforcement actions and could indicate the agency's growing willingness to use its so-called killer acquisition theory against perceived attempts to eliminate nascent competition, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Lessons For D&O Policyholders From Pharma Co. Ruling

    Author Photo

    A California federal court's recent decision in AmTrust v. 180 Life Sciences, requiring insurers to advance defense costs for a potentially covered claim, provides a valuable road map for directors and officers insurance policyholders, rebutting the common presumption that a D&O insurer's duty to advance costs is more limited than under other policies, say attorneys at Pasich.

  • ESG Around The World: Gulf Cooperation Council

    Author Photo

    The Gulf Cooperation Council is in the early stages of ESG policy implementation, but recent commitments by both states and corporations — including increases in sustainable finance transactions, environmental commitments, female representation on boards and human rights enforcement — show continuing progress toward broader ESG goals, say attorneys at Cleary.

  • Oregon Law Would Compromise Management Service Orgs

    Author Photo

    If passed, a proposed Oregon law would materially limit physician corporate practice of medicine structures, causing significant disruption to the provision of medicine and hindering professional corporations' ability to focus on the clinical components of their practice, say Christina Bergeron and William Shefelman at Ropes & Gray.

  • The Latest Antitrust Areas For In-House Counsel To Watch

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission's increasingly aggressive approach to antitrust enforcement means in-house counsel should closely monitor five key compliance issues, say attorneys at Squire Patton.

  • Navigating New Regulations In Healthcare And Other M&A

    Author Photo

    While notice requirements recently enacted in several states are focused on the healthcare industry for now, this trend could extend to other industries as these requirements are designed to allow regulators to be a step ahead and learn more about a transaction long before it occurs, say Kathleen Premo and Ashley Creech at Epstein Becker.

  • New CMS Rule Will Change Nursing Facility Disclosures

    Author Photo

    A new rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services significantly expands disclosure requirements for nursing facilities backed by private equity companies or real estate investment trusts, likely foreshadowing increased oversight that could include more targeted audits, say Janice Davis and Christopher Ronne at Morgan Lewis.