Deals & Corporate Governance
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February 23, 2024
Eye Care Tech Co. Gets Go-Ahead For April Sale In Ch. 11
A Texas bankruptcy judge said Friday she will approve sale procedures that will put a troubled optometry software maker on the block in April, after the debtor said it will give creditors a few more days to respond if it decides to name a stalking horse bidder.
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February 22, 2024
North Carolina Hospitals Can't Exit Monopoly Claims
Two healthcare companies cannot escape a consolidated antitrust suit claiming that a North Carolina hospital system drove up the price of health insurance for public employees, as a federal judge has found that the claims plausibly allege that the anti-competitive conduct occurred within the time window to sue.
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February 22, 2024
Biotech VC Firm ORI Capital Closes $260M Fund
Biotech venture capital firm ORI Capital announced Thursday that it has closed a $260 million fund to invest in early-stage biotech companies globally.
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February 22, 2024
Locke Lord Settles Failed Health Plan Malpractice Suit
Locke Lord LLP has reached a settlement to resolve a health plan fiduciary's malpractice suit alleging the firm provided bad legal advice that doomed the plan, permanently ending an Illinois federal suit first filed in 2018.
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February 21, 2024
Actelion Cites FDA Safety Rules Against Tracleer Antitrust Suit
Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd. said federal rules controlling distribution of potentially dangerous drugs spare it from antitrust litigation over its hypertension drug Tracleer, arguing it was required to deny needed samples to would-be generic competitors until they presented the right certification of safeguards.
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February 21, 2024
Calif. Bill Would Let AG Audit Private Equity Healthcare Deals
California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Assembly Speaker Pro Tempore Jim Wood have filed legislation that will give the state's AG oversight of private equity and hedge fund acquisitions of healthcare facilities, saying that private equity is causing soaring consumer costs.
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February 21, 2024
JPMorgan Got $400M Before Inovalon Sale, Del. Justices Hear
Inovalon didn't properly disclose that investors that bought the healthcare data company in 2021 paid $400 million in fees to its financial adviser, a JPMorgan unit, before the transaction, a reason enough to revive a lawsuit challenging the $7.3 billion acquisition, counsel for stockholders told Delaware's Supreme Court Wednesday.
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February 20, 2024
US Trustee Wants Sorrento Ch. 11 Tossed Or Relocated
The U.S. Trustee's Office has moved to have Sorrento Therapeutics' Chapter 11 case dismissed, alleging the biopharmaceutical company manufactured a venue in Texas bankruptcy court, even as the debtor asked for court approval to sell off its assets to its CEO under a revised reorganization plan.
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February 20, 2024
Biology AI Startup Bioptimus Raises $35M Seed Round
Artificial intelligence startup Bioptimus has raised $35 million to build an AI foundational model focused on biology, the company announced Tuesday.
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February 20, 2024
$71M Deal Proposed To End Premier Inc. Share Exchange Suit
Healthcare-purchasing giant Premier Inc. has agreed to a $71 million settlement of a derivative stockholder suit in Delaware's Chancery Court that challenged a $473.5 million payout in a 2020 restructuring, with stockholder attorneys seeking an award of up to $14 million in fees.
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February 20, 2024
Latham Adds Cooley Company Growth Pros In San Francisco
Latham & Watkins LLP is expanding its West Coast corporate team, announcing Tuesday that it is bringing in a pair of Cooley LLP experts in emerging-growth companies as partners in its San Francisco Bay Area offices.
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February 16, 2024
Chromocell Hits Stock Markets Following $6.6M IPO
Clinical-stage biotechnology company Chromocell Therapeutics Corp. began trading publicly on Friday after raising $6.6 million in its initial public offering, becoming the latest in a flurry of biotech IPOs.
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February 15, 2024
Citadel Securities, Others Beat Biotech Spoofing Suit, For Now
A New York federal judge has adopted in full a magistrate judge's recommendation to toss a suit accusing several broker-dealers, including Citadel Securities LLC and Virtu Americas LLC, of carrying out a spoofing scheme that repeatedly drove a biotechnology company's share price down, saying he agrees with the report's finding that the suit fails to show that the alleged scheme caused lower stock prices in every instance.
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February 15, 2024
HCA Says NC Hospital's Standard Of Care Hasn't Changed
For-profit hospital network HCA Management Services has fired back at claims of rampant mismanagement at its Asheville, North Carolina, hospital, saying the state attorney general's office has made accusations about the quality of care that aren't based on the terms agreed to when HCA bought the hospital four years ago.
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February 15, 2024
Invitae Can Use Cash Collateral For Speedy Ch. 11
Bankrupt genetic testing company Invitae Corp. on Thursday got the approval of a New Jersey bankruptcy court for routine first-day motions as it moves toward a planned April auction of its assets.
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February 15, 2024
Freenome Raises $254M For Early Cancer Detection Tests
Cancer-focused biotechnology company Freenome said Thursday it has raised $254 million from investors to advance cancer detection tests in its pipeline.
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February 15, 2024
Aurinia Refocusing After Failed Effort To Find A Buyer
Kidney-focused biotech Aurinia Pharmaceuticals is hitting pause on drug development, cutting jobs and initiating a $150 million stock buyback program, the company disclosed in its year-end financial report Thursday.
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February 15, 2024
Lawmakers Push PE Firm For Answers On Steward Health
A group of lawmakers demanded answers from private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management on Thursday over its relationship with financially troubled Steward Health Care-owned hospitals in Massachusetts, saying that Steward's recent collapse is a "textbook example" of the "grave risks" that come with private equity takeover of the healthcare system.
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February 15, 2024
FTC's Khan Calls Healthcare 'Key' To Fight For Competition
Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan told a conference of physicians the agency is fighting corporate control at several levels of the healthcare industry, touting the sector as a key battleground in the administration's push for more competition across the economy.
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February 14, 2024
FTC Seeks Info On 'Powerful Middlemen' Amid Drug Shortages
The Department of Health and Human Services and the Federal Trade Commission announced Wednesday that they are seeking information on whether legal exemptions for "middlemen" in the generic pharmaceutical market are driving ongoing drug shortages.
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February 14, 2024
Adagio Medical Goes Public In $128M SPAC Merger
Adagio Medical, a catheter ablation tech maker, and Arya Sciences, a special purpose acquisition company, said on Wednesday that they would merge, taking the combined company public at a $128 million value, guided by respective legal adviser Reed Smith and Kirkland.
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February 14, 2024
Pharma Co. Humanigen Gets OK For Ch. 11 Sale
Drug researcher Humanigen Inc. can sell nearly all of its assets to a company formed by its CEO, a Delaware bankruptcy judge ruled Wednesday, after the debtor, the buyer and the official committee of unsecured creditors struck a deal resolving objections to the Chapter 11 sale.
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February 14, 2024
Settlements of 3 Drug Cos. Get Prelim OK In Price-Fixing MDL
A Pennsylvania federal judge granted preliminary approval Wednesday to settlements in which two makers and one distributor of generic drugs agreed to pay a combined $45 million to resolve allegations they colluded to fix the prices of medications, including those used to treat glaucoma, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
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February 14, 2024
Biotech Nabs $200M Via Private Placement, Starts CEO Search
Public gene therapy company enGene Holdings Inc. announced Wednesday that it will sell 20 million of its common shares, raising an anticipated private placement of around $200 million, to fund the development of its lead compound EG-70.
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February 14, 2024
KKR Buys Stake In Health Tech Biz Cotiviti At $10.5B Valuation
Private equity firm KKR & Co. Inc. has agreed to acquire a stake in healthcare analytics company Cotiviti from Veritas Capital, Cotiviti announced Wednesday, in a deal valuing the target at about $10.5 billion.
Expert Analysis
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Law Needs A Balance Between Humanism And Formalism
A recent Law360 guest article rightly questions the pretextual pseudo-originalism that permits ideology to masquerade as judicial philosophy, but the cure would kill the patient because directness, simplicity and humanness are achievable without renouncing form or sacrificing stare decisis, says Vanessa Kubota at the Arizona Court of Appeals.
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FTC's Criminal Liaison Unit Enhances Merger Risks
As it enters its second year, the Criminal Liaison Unit within the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Competition may streamline and sharpen efforts to detect and refer substantive and procedural violations to prosecutors, increasing the chances of a merger review uncovering potential criminal activity, say attorneys at Norton Rose.
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Short Message Data Challenges In E-Discovery
As short message platforms increasingly dominate work environments, lawyers face multiple programs, different communication styles and emoji in e-discovery, so they must consider new strategies to adapt their processes, says Cristin Traylor at Relativity.
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Thomas Report Is Final Straw — High Court Needs Ethics Code
As a recent report on Justice Clarence Thomas' ongoing conflicts of interest makes evident, Supreme Court justices should be subject to an enforceable and binding code of ethics — like all other federal judges — to maintain the credibility of the institution, says Erica Salmon Byrne at Ethisphere.
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Joint Representation Ethics Lessons From Ga. Electors Case
The Fulton County district attorney's recent motion to disqualify an attorney from representing her elector clients, claiming a nonconsentable conflict of interest, raises key questions about representing multiple clients related to the same conduct and highlights potential pitfalls, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Grace Wynn at HWG.
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Lawyer Discernment Is Critical In The World Of AI
In light of growing practical concerns about risks and challenges posed by artificial intelligence, lawyers' experience with the skill of discernment will position them to help address new ethical and moral dilemmas and ensure that AI is developed and deployed in a way that benefits society as a whole, says Jennifer Gibbs at Zelle.
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Cannabis Considerations In Debt Collection, Credit Reporting
While companies that collect debts arising from cannabis purchases, and consumer reporting agencies that furnish information concerning such debts, may not be governed by consumer protection laws, they should probably act like it by implementing compliance programs that heed state and federal requirements, say Corey Scher and Joshua Horn at Fox Rothschild.
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Don't Forget Alumni Engagement When Merging Law Firms
Neglecting law firm alumni programs after a merger can sever the deep connections attorneys have with their former firms, but by combining good data management and creating new opportunities to reconnect, firms can make every member in their expanded network of colleagues feel valued, say Clare Roath and Erin Warner at Troutman Pepper.
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Interstate Cannabis Commerce May Be In Reach, With Caveats
California is the latest state to lay the groundwork for interstate cannabis commerce agreements, which may offer a solution to the overabundance of product in legal adult-use markets and survive constitutional challenges — but even then, obstacles to a national market will remain, say Adam Horowitz and Harry Berezin at Goodwin.
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Without Stronger Due Diligence, Attys Risk AML Regulation
Amid increasing pressure to mitigate money laundering and terrorism financing risks in gatekeeper professions, the legal industry will need to clarify and strengthen existing client due diligence measures — or risk the federal regulation attorneys have long sought to avoid, says Jeremy Glicksman at the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office.
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Abortion Pill Rulings Will Hinder FDA Authority
Although the Fifth Circuit recently stayed a Texas federal court's ruling that invalidated the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's approval of a commonly used abortion medication, several points made by the courts are worth considering for their potentially chilling effect on FDA authority and the challenges they may create for the life sciences industry, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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Cannabis Labor Peace Laws Lay Fertile Ground For Unions
State legislatures are increasingly passing cannabis laws that encourage or even mandate labor peace agreements as a condition for licensure, and though open questions remain about the constitutionality of such statutes, unionization efforts are unlikely to slow down, says Peter Murphy at Saul Ewing.
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Every Lawyer Can Act To Prevent Peer Suicide
Members of the legal industry can help prevent suicide among their colleagues, and better protect their own mental health, by learning the predictors and symptoms of depression among attorneys and knowing when and how to get practical aid to peers in crisis, says Joan Bibelhausen at Minnesota Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers.