Deals & Corporate Governance
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May 23, 2025
FTC Probing Alcon's $430M Lensar Deal
The Federal Trade Commission has requested additional information about Swiss eye care company Alcon Inc.'s planned purchase of Florida-based medical technology developer Lensar Inc. in a deal worth up to $430 million.
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May 23, 2025
Biotech Insider Traded On $3.5B Novartis Deal, Feds Say
A former board member at Chinook Therapeutics orchestrated an insider-trading scheme after learning about Novartis' plans to purchase the biotech company for $3.5 billion in 2023, according to an indictment announced Friday.
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May 22, 2025
EpiPen Direct Buyers, Mylan Get Final OK On Antitrust Deal
Mylan Pharmaceuticals' $73.5 million settlement with a class of direct EpiPen buyers has received final approval from a Kansas federal judge, closing out claims from institutional drug resellers that Mylan worked with Pfizer to forestall an EpiPen generic from hitting the market and artificially inflating prices for the emergency injectable.
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May 22, 2025
Nostrum Cleared for $1.75M Sale Of Ohio Drug Facility
Bankrupt drugmaker Nostrum Laboratories received approval from a New Jersey court for a $1.75 million sale of an Ohio facility after reaching an agreement with the buyer and lenders over the costs of removing controlled substances at the property.
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May 21, 2025
FTC Urges 8th Circ. Not To Pause In-House PBM Case
The Eighth Circuit should once again say no to a request to pause the Federal Trade Commission's in-house case accusing three pharmacy benefit managers of hiking up the price of insulin to line their own pockets, the agency has told the appellate court.
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May 21, 2025
AbbVie Gets Victory In Allergan Shareholder Suit Upheld
An Illinois state appellate panel said Wednesday that a trial court properly dismissed a shareholder class action against biopharmaceutical company AbbVie Inc. that accused the drugmaker of issuing unregistered shares to investors after acquiring Irish pharmaceutical company Allergan.
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May 20, 2025
Cancer Drug Co. Beats Investor Suit Over FDA Rejection
Cancer drug company Checkpoint Therapeutics Inc. has permanently escaped a shareholder suit alleging it understated the likelihood the U.S. Food and Drug Administration would refuse approving Checkpoint's lead product candidate, with a New York federal judge ruling company statements were not shown to be false or made with scienter.
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May 20, 2025
Healthcare Deals This Week: 23andMe, Pfizer, Hengrui
It was a busy few days for dealmaking in the healthcare sector, with major licensing transactions from names like Pfizer and Eli Lilly and a surprise buy of once-hot genetic testing company 23andMe from biotech Regeneron.
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May 20, 2025
Nursing Homes Facing 'Corporate Death Penalty' Owe $15.4M
The companies behind two Pittsburgh-area nursing homes convicted of falsifying staffing records were ordered Tuesday to pay a total of $15.35 million in restitution to the federal government, though the corporations' attorney told the judge that they had already received a "corporate death penalty" for their conviction.
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May 19, 2025
4th Circ. Partially Revives Eye Drop Maker's IP Theft Suit
A Fourth Circuit panel partially revived Monday eye drop maker OSRX Inc.'s trade secret theft lawsuit against a former sales executive who is accused of defecting to rival ImprimisRx with OSRX's confidential information, affirming the lower court's decision to send claims against the ex-executive to arbitration, but rebooting allegations against ImprimisRx.
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May 19, 2025
Bluebird Beats Patent Case Over Blood Disease Therapies
A Delaware federal judge has tossed a lawsuit against Bluebird Bio alleging two of its multimillion-dollar gene therapy treatments for blood disorders infringed patents held by San Rocco Therapeutics LLC, after the dispute had been narrowed by a previous claim construction ruling.
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May 19, 2025
NC Doctors Can't Block Pay Changes Amid Legal Challenge
A group of anesthesiologists can't stop their governing board from imposing changes to their compensation while they sue for breach of contract, a state business court judge ruled Monday, finding the doctors have other ways of obtaining relief that negate the need for an injunction.
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May 19, 2025
Biotech Services Company Files Ch. 11 With $60M In Debt
Contracted biotechnology research company AmplifyBio filed for Chapter 11 protection late Friday in Ohio bankruptcy court listing about $60 million in debt, saying it intends to sell its assets after failing to realize sufficient revenue to support its capital-intensive operations.
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May 19, 2025
BCLP Hires Career Crowell Commercial Atty In DC, Arizona
Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP has hired a former Crowell & Moring LLP commercial litigator who will split time between the firm's Phoenix and Washington, D.C., offices, and will bring his practice representing companies in high stakes healthcare and antitrust matters to the firm, according to a Monday announcement.
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May 19, 2025
Covington Corporate M&A Atty Moves To Clifford Chance
Clifford Chance LLP has hired a Covington & Burling LLP partner for its U.S. corporate mergers and acquisitions practice to strengthen its capabilities in the healthcare and life sciences sector, the firm said Monday.
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May 16, 2025
Bank Balks At Nostrum Ch. 11 Sale Over Drug Disposal Issue
Waterford Bank NA has objected to New Jersey drugmaker Nostrum Laboratories Inc.'s plan to sell an Ohio property, saying the bank doesn't want to be left to pay for the disposal of large quantities of controlled substances left at the site, an issue the parties are now negotiating ahead of a hearing next week.
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May 15, 2025
Ex-CEO Cops To Conspiracy Charge In $212M Fraud Case
A New Jersey-based former CEO of a medical billing company has pled guilty to conspiring to commit securities fraud in connection with government claims he was part of a $212.5 million scheme to inflate the value of his company to defraud potential investors in a go-private transaction.
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May 15, 2025
NC Judge Warns Of Airing 'Dirty Laundry' In Doctors' Pay Clash
A North Carolina business court judge on Thursday told a group of anesthesiologists and their business partners to seriously consider mediating a dispute over compensation, cautioning that if they choose to litigate, they should "be prepared for their dirty laundry to be aired for everyone to see."
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May 14, 2025
Integra Brass Face Investor Suit Over FDA Compliance Lapses
Executives and directors of medical device company Integra Lifesciences Inc. were hit with a derivative suit alleging they misled investors about the company's compliance with regulatory standards for over five years, causing share declines when information regarding Integra's violations emerged.
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May 14, 2025
10th Circ. Chilly To Biotech's SEC Asset Freeze Challenge
A panel of Tenth Circuit judges seemed skeptical Wednesday that a lower court had abused its discretion in granting a freeze of a biotech firm's assets in a suit brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accusing the company and its founders of misappropriating roughly $9 million.
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May 14, 2025
Alnylam Halts Patent Row Over Pfizer, BioNTech COVID-19 Vax
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals has decided to end a district court patent case over the COVID-19 vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNTech, asking a Delaware federal judge Tuesday to rule that the companies do not infringe its mRNA patents, while potentially setting the stage for an appeal.
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May 14, 2025
Total Vision Reaches Deal Ending VSP Antitrust Case
Optometry practice owner Total Vision has reached an agreement to end its antitrust case accusing eye care insurance giant Vision Service Plan of requiring anticompetitive terms in its contracts before trying to force Total Vision to sell at a dramatically reduced price.
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May 12, 2025
Will Justices Finally Rein In Universal Injunctions?
The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to address for the first time Thursday the propriety of universal injunctions, a tool federal judges have increasingly used to broadly halt presidential orders and policy initiatives, and whose validity has haunted the high court's merits and emergency dockets for more than a decade.
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May 12, 2025
Health Law Boutique Enters Texas Market With Goodwin Attys
Health law boutique Aligned Health Law LLC announced Monday it has expanded into Texas with the addition of two attorneys who worked for Goodwin Procter LLP, bringing its attorney roster to 13 since its launch this year.
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May 09, 2025
Pathology Lab Urges 8th Circ. Not To Revive Antitrust Claims
Iowa Pathology Associates told the Eighth Circuit a lower court was right to toss a rival lab's case accusing it of monopolizing the market because the claims are really about the lab's failure to attract enough clients from the competing practice to achieve its expected profits.

Digital Health IPOs Serve As Litmus Test In Uncertain Markets
While public markets have been turbulent in recent months, digital health companies appear to be bucking the trend, pushing to go public even as others wait on the sidelines.

This Week's Healthcare Earnings: Moderna, CVS, Hims & Hers
Macro-headwinds continued to cloud over earnings calls this week as a smattering of companies, including Humana, Moderna and Teladoc, reported financial results over the past few days. Here's what you need to know from earnings this week.

China-US Biotech Dealmaking Likely Safe From Tariff Turmoil
A new hot spot for biotech dealmaking likely won't cool in the coming months, even as the Trump administration's trade policies and economic uncertainty throws cold water on other areas of the industry.
Expert Analysis
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Why Texas Should Slow Down On Healthcare Merger Bills
More time is needed to study three Texas bills aimed at considering the effects of healthcare consolidation to increase affordability and access to healthcare, which could have the opposite effect, say John Saran and Harshita Rathore at Holland & Knight and Robbie Allen at U.S. Heart and Vascular.
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Navigating The Expanding Frontier Of Premerger Notice Laws
Washington's newly enacted law requiring premerger notification to state enforcers builds upon a growing trend of state scrutiny into transactions in the healthcare sector and beyond, and may inspire other states to enact similar legislation, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.
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Issues To Watch At ABA's Antitrust Spring Meeting
Attorneys at Freshfields consider the future of antitrust law and competition enforcement amid agency leadership changes and other emerging developments likely to dominate discussion at the American Bar Association's Antitrust Spring Meeting this week.
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Reviewing Calif. Push To Restrict Private Equity In Healthcare
A recent proposed bill in California aims to broaden the state's existing corporate practice of medicine restrictions, so investors must ensure that there is clear delineation between private equity investment in practice management and physicians' clinical decision-making, say attorneys at Debevoise.
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China High Court Ruling Could Encourage Antitrust Litigation
Practitioners defending U.S. companies in China should take note of a Chinese Supreme Court ruling that plaintiffs can file suits based on either where the alleged action, or where the result of such action, occurred — which will promote civil litigation by minimizing procedural battles over forum selection, says Yang Yang at Leaqual Law Firm.
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Recent Cases Clarify FCA Kickback Pleading Standards
Two recently resolved cases involving pharmaceutical manufacturers may make it more difficult for False Claims Act defendants facing kickback scheme allegations to get claims dismissed for lack of evidence, say Li Yu at Bernstein Litowitz, Ellen London at London & Noar, and Gregg Shapiro at Gregg Shapiro Law.
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Antitrust Analysis In Iowa Pathologist Case Misses The Mark
An Iowa federal court erred in its recent decision in Goldfinch Laboratory v. Iowa Pathology Associates by focusing exclusively on market impacts and sidestepping key questions that should be central to antitrust standing analysis, says Daniel Graulich at Baker McKenzie.
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Assessing PE Risk After Mass. False Claims Act Amendments
A law recently passed in Massachusetts amends the commonwealth's False Claims Act by dramatically expanding potential liability for private equity firms and investors, underscoring the importance of robust diligence and risk assessments for private equity firms conducting transactions in the commonwealth, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.
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Rethinking 'No Comment' For Clients Facing Public Crises
“No comment” is no longer a cost-free or even a viable public communications strategy for companies in crisis, and counsel must tailor their guidance based on a variety of competing factors to help clients emerge successfully, says Robert Bowers at Moore & Van Allen.
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Top 10 Healthcare And Life Sciences Issues To Watch In 2025
Under the new Trump administration, this coming year may benefit some healthcare and life sciences stakeholders, while creating new challenges for others amid an increasingly complex regulatory environment, say attorneys at Debevoise.
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2024 IPO Market Trends, And What To Expect Next Year
The initial public offering market returned to historically typical levels on a deal count basis in 2024 but continued to lag based on proceeds raised due to a larger number of smaller IPOs this year, and signs point to continued ongoing momentum in the next year, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.
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Inside The Appeals Board's 2024 Report To Congress
An in-depth examination of the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals’ annual report reveals a continuing decline in new cases, motions and hearings, a trend that may correspond with the increased use of alternative dispute resolution, and expedited or accelerated proceedings, say attorneys at Miller & Chevalier.
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Expect More State Scrutiny Of PE In Healthcare M&A
While a California bill that called for increased antitrust scrutiny of many healthcare private equity transactions was recently vetoed by the governor, state legislatures are likely to continue introducing similar laws, particularly if the Trump administration eases federal enforcement, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.