Deals & Corporate Governance
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November 19, 2024
Yoga Teacher Gets 7½ Years For Defrauding Mentally Ill Doctor
A yoga instructor who helped defraud $2.7 million from a mentally ill doctor by moving into his Malibu home and feeding him psychedelic drugs was sentenced to 90 months in prison by a California federal judge Tuesday, more than twice the time recommended by prosecutors.
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November 19, 2024
Calif. Biotech Firm Vera Taps Veteran Chief Legal Officer
Biotechnology firm Vera Therapeutics is welcoming a new chief legal officer in advance of an anticipated biologics submission to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for a treatment targeting an autoimmune kidney disease.
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November 19, 2024
J&J Wants Beasley Allen Atty Sanctioned For Depo No-Show
Johnson & Johnson's talc unit called on a Texas bankruptcy court to sanction a Beasley Allen Law Firm attorney for "unilaterally" deciding not to attend a scheduled deposition in the company's bankruptcy case.
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November 19, 2024
Kirkland Advises Amcor On $8.4B Berry Global Buy
Kirkland & Ellis LLP-led Amcor PLC said Tuesday it has agreed to purchase fellow packaging company Berry Global Group Inc., in an all-stock deal that values Berry at more than $8.4 billion.
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November 18, 2024
Melinta Obtains Ban On Generic Antibiotic Injections In IP Row
A drugmaker that recently sold a manufacturing facility to Eli Lilly for nearly $1 billion has failed to persuade a federal judge in Chicago to wipe out patents covering a line of injections that treat infections developed by a recently bankrupt antibiotic developer.
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November 18, 2024
Medical Group Wants Justices To Review IP Safe Harbor Fight
A medical device trade group has said the U.S. Supreme Court should take up an appeal of a Federal Circuit decision Edwards Lifesciences said broadened a drug-development safe harbor to avoid patent infringement, saying the circuit court misread the provision.
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November 18, 2024
Wachtell-Led CVS Adds Glenview CEO, Others To Board
CVS Health, represented by Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz, said Monday it has struck a deal with activist investor Glenview Capital Management to appoint four new board members, including Glenview CEO Larry Robbins.
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November 15, 2024
Orrick Trial Partner Joins Morgan Lewis In Boston
Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP announced that an experienced litigator from Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP joined the firm's Boston office as a partner, enhancing its capacity in areas such as life sciences and regulatory compliance.
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November 15, 2024
Taxation With Representation: Cravath, MoFo, Gibson Dunn
In this week's Taxation With Representation, Cardinal Health takes a majority stake in GI Alliance and acquires Advanced Diabetes Supply Group, Just Eat offloads Grubhub to Wonder Group, Rivian Automotive and Volkswagen Group launch a joint venture, and Ovintiv Inc. buys Montney Basin assets from Paramount Resources Ltd.
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November 14, 2024
Emergency Medical Providers Oppose $2.8B BCBS Deal
A group of emergency clinic medical providers objected to the $2.8 billion settlement a broader class of medical providers reached with the Blue Cross Blue Shield network of insurers last month, as attorneys for the overall class boasted that the settlement would transform the insurers and bring historic payouts.
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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.
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November 13, 2024
Colo. Hospital System To Settle ER Billing Claims For $23M
University of Colorado Health has agreed to pay $23 million to settle a lawsuit alleging the hospital system was submitting false claims to federal health care programs, U.S. Department of Justice officials announced Tuesday.
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November 13, 2024
Mich. Justice Jokes He's To Blame For PIP Assignment Fights
A Michigan Supreme Court justice joked Wednesday that his 2017 footnote about patients assigning medical claims to healthcare providers was to blame for complicated recent insurance litigation surrounding plaintiffs who sign over their rights but nevertheless sue insurers.
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November 12, 2024
Health Deal Attys See Hope — And Unknowns — In Trump 2.0
In the days following the election results, attorneys say they've seen mixed reactions from the healthcare and life sciences industries, with some sectors cheering over what they expect to be a less stringent antitrust environment and others worrying over how potential policy changes could affect certain businesses.
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November 12, 2024
Cardinal Health, Endeavor Group Top Veterans Day M&A Deals
While banks and federal offices were closed on Monday for Veterans Day, some companies were busy at work announcing various M&A transactions, including Cardinal Health's plan to pay a total of $3.9 billion to acquire two separate companies and Endeavor Group's sale of OpenBet and IMG Arena for $450 million.
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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.
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November 08, 2024
Astrana Health Acquires Prospect Health In $745M Deal
Healthcare company Astrana Health Inc., advised by Russ August & Kabat LLP, on Friday announced plans to buy integrated care delivery system Prospect Health System, led by Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP, in a $745 million deal meant to ensure that health care remains local and personalized for patients across four states.
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November 06, 2024
5 Firms Guide $4.6B Cencora-Retina Consultants Deal
Freshfields, Sidley Austin LLP and Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP are guiding Cencora Inc. on an agreement to acquire Retina Consultants of America from Webster Equity Partners for $4.6 billion in cash, Cencora said Wednesday.
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November 05, 2024
An Early Look At Trump's Supreme Court Shortlist
With former President Donald Trump projected to win the 2024 presidential election and the Republicans' success in securing the U.S. Senate majority, Trump may now get the chance to appoint two more justices to the U.S. Supreme Court, cementing the court's conservative tilt for decades to come.
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November 05, 2024
GOP's Senate Win Hands Future Of The Judiciary To Trump
Republicans were projected to take back the White House and Senate and possibly the House early Wednesday, putting the GOP in position to back Donald Trump's agenda and his slate of young, conservative judicial nominees.
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November 05, 2024
The Firms With An Inside Track To A New Trump Admin
Law firms that have represented Donald Trump and the Republican Party on everything from personal legal woes to election-related lawsuits could see the risks of that work pay dividends as Trump is projected to secure a second term in office.
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November 05, 2024
The Story Behind Vaccine Maker Gritstone's Ch. 11
Vaccine maker Gritstone bio Inc. hit Chapter 11 after a tightening investment market left it starved of the capital it needed to keep doing its research into preventative treatments for cancer, COVID-19 and HIV, according to court filings.
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November 05, 2024
Apple Stole Masimo Sensor IP, Calif. Judge Told At Trial's Start
Masimo and Cercacor Laboratories' counsel told a California federal judge at the opening of a bench trial Tuesday that after Apple struggled to implement blood oxygen sensors in a watch, the tech giant poached their employees and stole their trade secrets to get this key health technology into the Apple Watch.
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November 05, 2024
Eye-Rolling Must Stop, Judge Warns Before False Ad Trial
A California federal judge overseeing a false advertising dispute set to go to trial Wednesday between Guardant Health and Natera cautioned lawyers for the medical diagnostic testing companies on Tuesday to stop their "eye-rolling" when opposing counsel speaks and also urged the rivals to keep trying for a last-minute settlement.
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November 05, 2024
Bankruptcy Not Delaying NJ Health System's Antitrust Case
A New Jersey federal magistrate judge on Tuesday partly denied CarePoint Health Management's request to delay its antitrust case against RWJBarnabas Health Inc. because of CarePoint's recent bankruptcy filing.
Expert Analysis
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ESG Around The World: Gulf Cooperation Council
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.
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Oregon Law Would Compromise Management Service Orgs
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.
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The Latest Antitrust Areas For In-House Counsel To Watch
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.
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Navigating New Regulations In Healthcare And Other M&A
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.
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New CMS Rule Will Change Nursing Facility Disclosures
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.
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Healthcare Collabs Can Alleviate Labor, Antitrust Challenges
Two major challenges facing hospitals and health systems include labor shortages and increased antitrust scrutiny at both federal and state levels, but collaborative efforts may help with addressing these difficulties, says Sumaya Noush at McDermott.
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How Biotech Cos. Can Utilize Synthetic Royalty Financing
Synthetic royalty transactions have been on the rise as a funding structure for biotechnology companies, but questions have arisen surrounding how such transactions work, and structuring them correctly requires a nuanced understanding, say Todd Trattner and Ryan Murr at Gibson Dunn.
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How Biotech Deals May Help Competition, Despite FTC View
The Federal Trade Commission's complaint against Sanofi's proposed partnership with Maze Therapeutics highlights increasing skepticism of so-called killer acquisitions, but a closer look reveals potentially legitimate reasons behind why entities might decide to delay or abandon the development of acquired products, say consultants at Analysis Group.
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Notes Of Interest From 5th Circ. Illumina-Grail Merger Ruling
Attorneys at Simpson Thacher consider the Fifth Circuit's recent decision upholding the Federal Trade Commission's challenge of the Illumina merger with Grail, its much-needed boost to the Biden administration's antitrust agenda, and some silver linings the decision offers to merging parties.
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A Potential Proactive Tool For Public-Private Joint Ventures
In the current environment of heightened antitrust enforcement, the National Cooperative Research and Production Act seems tailor-made for the collaborative work among competitors encouraged by the Biden administration's infrastructure and green energy funding legislation, say Jeetander Dulani and Susan Ebner at Stinson.
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Financing Healthcare Deals In Uncertain Markets This Year
As challenges to closing and financing new deals prevail into 2024, lenders in new healthcare transactions are talking about alternative approaches for sponsors to consider, such as private credit alternatives and utilization of junior capital, say attorneys at McDermott.
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A Primer On New Calif. Health Transaction Reporting Rules
New California regulations regarding the reporting of certain transactions involving healthcare entities, which took effect on Jan. 1, address some industry feedback about overly broad requirements but still leave several areas of concern, says Andrew Demetriou at Husch Blackwell.
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In The CFPB Playbook: Rulemaking Rush Before Election Year
In this quarterly Consumer Financial Protection Bureau activity recap by former bureau personnel, attorneys at McGuireWoods explain the regulator's recent push to finalize new rules about data aggregators, digital payment apps and more before the election-year Congressional Review Act window opens.