Healthcare and Life Sciences

We regularly advise healthcare and life science companies in connection with their most complex and high profile M&A transactions – including public and private M&A, carve-outs, spin-offs, joint ventures and strategic alliances. We also advise on private equity and venture capital investments.

Weil has advised a broad range of public and private healthcare and life science corporates, including Advent International, American Securities, Array, Athenahealth, Bio Rad, Blackstone, CVC, Dermira, Eli Lilly and Company, EQT Partners, Genstar Capital, Goldman Sachs, Halozyme Therapeutics, Hologic, inVentiv Health, Kroger, L’Oréal, Magellan Health, NEOGEN Corporation, Quest Diagnostics, PSG, Sanofi, TPG, Walgreens Boots Alliance and WEX Health, among others.

We have a deep understanding of the healthcare and life sciences industries, including lawyers in our Technology & IP Transactions practice who spend 100% of their time on technology and intellectual property transactions — a distinguishing feature of Weil — bringing deep expertise to healthcare and life sciences clients across the spectrum of transactions, from license and development agreements to drug rights and IP acquisitions and dispositions to supply and distribution agreements.

We have a deep bench of partners, counsel and associates who specialize in healthcare and life science transactions and who are well-versed across a wide range of technologies, including small molecule pharmaceuticals, antibodies and ADCs, gene therapies, medical devices, drug delivery technology, OTC compounds, and gAI and machine-learning platforms. We have advised on deals at each point of the product life cycle, ranging from the drafting and negotiation of material transfer and sponsored research agreements, manufacturing and supply agreements, R&D collaborations, and co-commercialization and marketing agreements. Our Technology & IP Transactions healthcare and life science specialists are true trusted advisors who regularly counsel clients not just on the initial partnership agreement but also on post-execution and general alliance management matters, including working as “One Firm” with our litigation colleagues to resolve potential disputes.

We regularly advise healthcare and life sciences companies on market-shaping capital markets transactions, including IPOs, follow-on offerings, and other equity and debt financings. We have extensive experience advising clients on IPOs and bring keen market insights and seasoned judgment to bear on the broad range of matters that arise throughout the IPO process, from structuring and regulatory compliance to exchange listing.

Weil has a strong track record representing both issuers and underwriters in high-profile healthcare and life sciences offerings, including equity and debt offerings for Emergent BioSolutions, Eli Lilly, IQVIA, Johnson & Johnson, Sanofi, Syneos Health and VIVUS, among others.

Our global antitrust practice is one of the most successful in the nation at securing antitrust clearance for global healthcare and life sciences transactions and achieving positive outcomes in high-stakes, complex litigations in the healthcare and life sciences sector.  We have attorneys who are experts in healthcare and life sciences and understand the key issues in antitrust matters, including relevant market definition and potential future competition implicating product pipelines. 

Weil’s antitrust partners collectively have more than 100 years of experience working at key global regulators and included among our ranks is the former long-tenured Assistant Director in charge of the Mergers I division at the FTC, which reviews all medical products, pharmaceutical, and other healthcare and life sciences transactions. This experience enables us to offer distinct insight regarding the agency review process, particularly in healthcare and life sciences M&A.

Our ability to effectively and efficiently manage healthcare and life sciences transactions through the U.S. and global regulatory process is complemented by our successful track record in government investigations and private antitrust litigation, including class actions, in the healthcare and life sciences space.

Our Litigation Department has one of the deepest and most successful résumés in high-stakes disputes impacting the healthcare and life sciences sector. Our experience includes nationwide consumer class actions, high-stakes patents, trade secrets, restrictive covenants, and other IP disputes, product liability litigation, shareholder and corporate disputes, and government and internal investigations. In these and other engagements, we regularly partner with our corporate and restructuring colleagues to help our clients address risk and identify opportunities prior to litigation commencing. Many of our litigators have strong technical backgrounds in healthcare and life sciences, as well as experience litigating all aspects of cases, including trial and appeals.

Drawing upon lawyers in the Firm’s Complex Commercial Litigation, Employment, Antitrust, Securities, and White Collar Defense, Regulatory and Investigations groups, among others, we work in partnership with major sector participants to litigate, try, and resolve some of their most complex and novel disputes. Our experience includes:

• Defending significant class action and multi-jurisdictional litigation in the antitrust, consumer, product liability, and securities contexts, prevailing at the dismissal, class cert, summary judgment, and other key phases.
• Representing pharmaceutical companies in licensing, collaboration, and commercialization disputes, as well as claims arising from manufacturing defects or shortfalls.
• Prosecuting and defending high-stakes patent litigation before the federal district courts, the ITC, the Federal Circuit, and the PTAB.
• Representing corporations and individuals in investigations and criminal, regulatory and civil proceedings by governmental authorities and qui tam plaintiffs.
• Advising on employment law issues, including executive onboarding and transition, reductions in force, and trade secrets and restrictive covenant claims.