Deals & Corporate Governance

  • July 18, 2024

    Pharma Biz Buys Animal Medicine Co. For Up To $520M

    Latham & Watkins LLP-advised animal health therapeutics company Invetx, which is currently owned by life sciences-focused investment management firm Novo Holdings, on Thursday announced plans to be bought by veterinary pharmaceuticals company Dechra Pharmaceuticals Ltd., advised by Kirkland & Ellis LLP, for up to $520 million.

  • July 17, 2024

    Burr & Forman Accused Of Aiding Health Insurance Fraud

    Burr & Forman LLP has been hit with a malpractice suit in Georgia federal court by the liquidating trustees of two purported health insurance companies after the firm allegedly aided in a scheme to defraud customers by charging exorbitant fees and denying promised coverage, saying the attorneys helped create a web of LLCs to which it siphoned off millions.

  • July 16, 2024

    Masimo Accuses Politan Of Deceit In Hostile Takeover

    Masimo Corp. has hit the activist investment firm Politan Capital Management LP and its top brass with a lawsuit in California federal court, accusing the hedge fund of violating securities laws by trying to gain control of Masimo through a proxy contest that duped Masimo shareholders using "lies and deceit."

  • July 16, 2024

    Sanford-Marshfield Tie-Up Portends More Cross-Market Deals

    A merger between two Midwest health systems is evidence of hospitals' desire to strike deals with players in other markets, according to experts in the space, who say the trend may be influenced by a tough antitrust environment and larger industry shift to value-based care.

  • July 16, 2024

    Chancery Orders Illumina Docs Released In Grail Merger Fight

    Benefit fund shareholders of biotech giant Illumina Inc. won a Delaware Court of Chancery order on Tuesday for a rare, limited release of legal advice documents on Illumina's merger agreement with cancer-testing firm Grail Inc., a deal that has cost the company billions in fines and lost value.

  • July 16, 2024

    Drugmaker BioLineRx Beats Investor Suit Over Cash Shortfall

    Israeli biotech company BioLineRx has, for now, beaten a proposed class action over claims that it misled investors on its capital shortfall, which caused a major decline in its share price, with a New Jersey federal judge saying the plaintiffs have failed to plead any actionable misleading or false statements.

  • July 16, 2024

    Manatt Adds Healthcare Transactions Partner From McDermott

    Manatt Phelps & Phillips LLP has added a new healthcare partner to its Boston office.

  • July 16, 2024

    Heart-Focused Biotech Closes $260M Series B Funding Round

    Clinical-stage biotechnology company Cardurion Pharmaceuticals Inc. on Tuesday announced that it has raised $260 million in Series B financing that will go toward helping the Burlington, Massachusetts-based company continue developing therapies for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases.

  • July 16, 2024

    The 2024 Diversity Snapshot: What You Need To Know

    Law firms' ongoing initiatives to address diversity challenges have driven another year of progress, with the representation of minority attorneys continuing to improve across the board, albeit at a slower pace than in previous years. Here's our data dive into minority representation at law firms in 2023.

  • July 16, 2024

    These Firms Have The Most Diverse Equity Partnerships

    Law360’s law firm survey shows that firms' efforts to diversify their equity partner ranks are lagging. But some have embraced a broader talent pool at the equity partner level. Here are the ones that stood out.

  • July 15, 2024

    Walgreens Investor Sues Over Challenged Pharmacy Division

    Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. was hit with a proposed shareholder class action alleging it inflated share prices by concealing the lack of viability of its pharmacy division, which it eventually disclosed needed a major overhaul to become sustainable.

  • July 15, 2024

    CVS Hit With Investor Suit Over Benefits Unit's Losses

    CVS has been hit with a proposed class action in New York federal court over a series of stock price declines it suffered following announcements about losses the healthcare retailer was experiencing in its Health Care Benefits segment.

  • July 15, 2024

    Cigna, Chuck Close Estate Settle Reneged Benefits Suit

    The estate of renowned artist Chuck Close told a New York federal judge that Cigna has agreed to settle a suit claiming the company wouldn't pay for more than $686,000 in at-home skilled nursing care that it claimed was owed to him under his Pace Gallery employee benefit plan.

  • July 12, 2024

    Law360 Names 2024's Top Attorneys Under 40

    Law360 is pleased to announce the Rising Stars of 2024, our list of 158 attorneys under 40 whose legal accomplishments belie their age.

  • July 12, 2024

    FTC Says Abandoned Novant Deal Moots Lower Court Loss

    The Federal Trade Commission is looking to unravel a North Carolina federal judge's order allowing Novant's planned $320 million hospital merger to advance after it subsequently abandoned the deal, telling the Fourth Circuit the appeal is moot and the order should be vacated.

  • July 11, 2024

    Senate Clears Patent Bill Aiming To Lower Drug Prices

    The U.S. Senate on Thursday passed a bill that would pump the brakes on the ability of pharmaceutical companies to steer patients away from generic versions of a drug, a measure that lawmakers said would lower drug costs.

  • July 11, 2024

    $435M Yale Hospital Merger Case Set For December Jury Trial

    A lawsuit claiming that Yale New Haven Health Corp. is trying to back out of a $435 million deal to buy three Connecticut hospitals will go to a bench trial in December after a state court judge approved the parties' proposed schedule.

  • July 11, 2024

    GSK Asks Judge To Rule In Teva IP Case, Citing Opioid Deals

    A GlaxoSmithKline lawyer has urged a Delaware federal judge to make up his mind about a nearly $400 million patent case against Teva Pharmaceuticals in light of unrelated "opioid-related cases" that the Israeli generic-drug maker has been settling in the billions of dollars.

  • July 10, 2024

    Drug Pricing, Overreach Dominate IP Disclaimer Feedback

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has received heated feedback regarding its proposal to make follow-on patents easier to invalidate, with drug pricing advocates applauding it, top technology and pharma companies decrying it, and high-profile officials calling the proposal an overstep of the agency's authority.

  • July 10, 2024

    Ellenoff-Led SPAC Raises $200M To Pursue Healthcare Merger

    SIM Acquisition Corp. I, a special-purpose acquisition company formed to pursue a healthcare merger, began trading Wednesday after pricing a $200 million initial public offering, represented by Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP and underwriters counsel Kirkland & Ellis LLP.

  • July 10, 2024

    NC County Can't Join AG's Suit Over HCA Healthcare Lapses

    A county in western North Carolina can't intervene in the attorney general's lawsuit accusing a for-profit health network of reneging on promises it made when it bought an Asheville hospital, the state Business Court has said, finding the county's interference would only delay the case.

  • July 09, 2024

    Fla. Judge Won't Nix Antitrust Claims Against Alcon

    The Florida federal judge presiding over the multidistrict litigation alleging disposable contact lens sellers conspired to fix prices refused Tuesday to let Alcon escape antitrust claims by an online contact lens reseller and sent the suit back to New York.

  • July 09, 2024

    Healthcare Deals This Week: GSK, Lilly And More

    Despite the short week, the healthcare industry saw a handful of notable deals, including ones from GSK and Eli Lilly valued in the billions of dollars.

  • July 09, 2024

    Kroger Deal's Local Veto May Give Ore. Health Agency Pause

    A proposed merger between grocery store giants Kroger and Albertsons has collided with an Oregon community board concerned about the deal exacerbating "pharmacy deserts" in rural areas of the state.

  • July 09, 2024

    Kirkland Guides Avesi Partners To $1.35B Fund II Close

    Stamford, Connecticut-based Avesi Partners, a private equity firm specializing in healthcare and business services, said Tuesday it had closed Avesi Partners Fund II LP at $1.35 billion, with Kirkland & Ellis LLP serving as legal counsel to the oversubscribed fund. 

Expert Analysis

  • Cos. Must Adapt To Calif. Immigration Data Privacy Law

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    California’s recently signed A.B. 947 expands the California Consumer Privacy Act and brings the state in line with other comprehensive privacy laws that address immigration status, meaning companies should make any necessary updates to their processes and disclosures, say Kate Lucente and Matt Dhaiti at DLA Piper.

  • Looking For Defense Contract Appeal Trends In Annual Report

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    A deep dive into the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals annual report for the 2023 fiscal year reveals increases in the number of cases filed, pending motions and expedited or accelerated cases, while the board disposed of fewer cases than in prior fiscal years, say Scott Flesch and Alexandra Prime at Miller & Chevalier.

  • Preparing Law Students For A New, AI-Assisted Legal World

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    As artificial intelligence rapidly transforms the legal landscape, law schools must integrate technology and curricula that address AI’s innate challenges — from ethics to data security — to help students stay ahead of the curve, say Daniel Garrie at Law & Forensics, Ryan Abbott at JAMS and Karen Silverman at Cantellus Group.

  • ESG Around The World: South Korea

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    Numerous ESG trends have materialized in South Korea in the past three years, with impacts ranging from greenwashing prevention and carbon neutrality measures to workplace harassment and board diversity initiatives, say Chang Wook Min and Hyun Chan Jung at Jipyong.

  • General Counsel Need Data Literacy To Keep Up With AI

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    With the rise of accessible and powerful generative artificial intelligence solutions, it is imperative for general counsel to understand the use and application of data for myriad important activities, from evaluating the e-discovery process to monitoring compliance analytics and more, says Colin Levy at Malbek.

  • A Look At Successful Bid Protests In FY 2023

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    Attorneys at Sheppard Mullin look beyond the statistics in the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s recent annual report on bid protests, sharing their insights about nine categories of sustained protests, gained from reading every fiscal year 2023 decision in which the protester had a positive result.

  • Rite Aid's Reasons For Ch. 11 Go Beyond Opioid Suits

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    Despite opioid-related lawsuits being the perceived reason that pushed Rite Aid into bankruptcy, the company's recent Chapter 11 filing reveals its tenuous position in the pharmaceutical retail market, and only time will tell whether bankruptcy will right-size the company, says Daniel Gielchinsky at DGIM Law.

  • Navigating Discovery Of Generative AI Information

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    As generative artificial intelligence tools become increasingly ubiquitous, companies must make sure to preserve generative AI data when there is reasonable expectation of litigation, and to include transcripts in litigation hold notices, as they may be relevant to discovery requests, say Nick Peterson and Corey Hauser at Wiley.

  • Finding Focus: Strategies For Attorneys With ADHD

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    Given the prevalence of ADHD among attorneys, it is imperative that the legal community gain a better understanding of how ADHD affects well-being, and that resources and strategies exist for attorneys with this disability to manage their symptoms and achieve success, say Casey Dixon at Dixon Life Coaching and Krista Larson at Stinson.

  • AI Use May Trigger False Claims Act's Public Disclosure Bar

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    The likely use of publicly available artificial intelligence tools to detect government fraud by combing through large data sets will raise complex questions about a False Claims Act provision that prohibits the filing of claims based on previously disclosed information, say Nick Peterson and Spencer Brooks at Wiley Rein.

  • Beware Privacy Risks In Training AI Models With Health Data

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    Because data used to train artificial intelligence models may be protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act or other regulations, users of these models should conduct proper diligence to avoid costly compliance failures, say Neha Matta and Barbara Bennett at Frost Brown.

  • Unpacking GAO's FY 2023 Bid Protest Report

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    The U.S. Government Accountability Office's recent bid protest report reflects an increase in sustained protests, illustrating that disappointed offerors may see little reason to refrain from seeking corrective action — but there is more to the story, say Aron Beezley and Patrick Quigley at Bradley Arant.

  • How Fla. Bankruptcy Ruling May Affect Equity Owners

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    A Florida bankruptcy court’s recent ruling in Vital Pharmaceuticals — which rejected the Third Circuit’s Majestic Star decision that determined a bankrupt corporation’s flow-through status was not protected by the automatic stay — may significantly affect how equity owners can mitigate the impact of flow-through structures in bankruptcy, say Eric Behl-Remijan and Natasha Hwangpo at Ropes & Gray.