‘Economic and geopolitical pressures continued throughout 2023, making the global business landscape a volatile one. It might even be asked whether disruption is simply the new business norm.’
The disruption felt globally at the end of 2022 continued to impact life sciences companies and investors in 2023. Continue reading “Life Sciences Yearbook 2024: Sponsored foreword – Herbert Smith Freehills”
China’s life sciences and healthcare (LS&H) industry underwent an unprecedented transformation in 2023 consisting of numerous challenges and opportunities. Within this year, BD transactions primarily included out-licensing of ex-China rights, China commercialisation partnering, asset acquisition and regaining drug product rights, which reflected the courage of China’s LS&H market players to proactively seek changes and rebuild corporate strategies in a quickly shifting market landscape.
Fangda Partners’ life sciences team remained active in advising on LS&H corporate transactions in 2023 and recent key deal highlights included (a) Hengrui Pharma (600276.SH)’s out-licensing partnership with Aiolos Bio to exploit the innovative anti-TSLP mAb (SHR-1905) outside of Greater China; (b) Kanghua Biological (300841.SZ)’s grant of exclusive rights to HilleVax for exploitation of recombinant hexavalent VLP norovirus vaccine outside of Greater China; (c) CStone Pharma (2616.HK)’s sale of the Tibsovo® (Ivosidenib) business, asset and goodwill thereof in Greater China and Singapore to Les Laboratoires Servier; and (d) a number of commercialisation arrangements entered into by multinational pharmaceutical companies with leading CSOs. Continue reading “Sponsored thought leadership: China life sciences – Transaction insights and notable industry trends”
1. What are the current regulatory frameworks governing the life sciences industry in China, and how have they evolved in recent years?
Legislation wise, the Drug Administration Law and its implementation rules are pivotal to the pharmaceutical sector, overseeing the entire lifecycle of chemical and biological products. For medical devices (including in-vitro diagnostics), the Regulations for the Supervision and Administration of Medical Devices form a fundamental framework. Continue reading “Sponsored Q&A: Fangda Partners”
The health sector in Portugal, which encompasses the pharmaceutical market, is a prominent and fast-evolving sector that has undergone significant growth in recent decades.
Sérvulo & Associados law firm is proud to have a highly specialised, experienced and well-balanced team in the life sciences field. The team covers all the main legal matters of the health and pharmaceutical industry, acting and providing guidance on a broad range of issues. These include patent trademark litigation within the pharmaceutical sector, but also advice on regulatory matters, data privacy for clinical research, and patient support programmers, as well as distribution and supply agreements to the industry. Continue reading “Sponsored thought leadership: Healthcare and pharmaceutical regulation in Portugal”
‘What defines Baker McKenzie over the last few years is the sheer amount of work that has gone into financial integration. This is a massive achievement but it has come at a cost. Now, establishing the differentiator to attract the next generation is important. It isn’t going to turn into Kirkland & Ellis, but what is going to drive that entrepreneurial aspect now Bakers looks more like other firms?’ So speaks one commentator of the quandary facing Baker McKenzie, a sentiment reprising a prevailing theme of our 2017 deep dive into the firm, ‘Waking the Giant’, which found a firm struggling to maintain its unique international selling point amid escalating globalisation of Big Law.
Then, the firm had just embarked on a new and ambitious phase, with the respected veteran intellectual property (IP) partner Paul Rawlinson instated as its first British chair in October 2016. The mandate? To implement the firm’s 2020 strategy, which focused on integrating Bakers across three profit pools, increasing profitability and growing the firm’s transactional practices in London, New York and China. Continue reading “Baker McKenzie: One eye open”
Simpson Thacher begins this week’s lateral hire round-up with its recruitment of Legal 500 international arbitration leading individual David Edwards from Skadden. Edwards will co-lead the firm’s European disputes practice alongside Tyler Robinson.
The hire brings the London office to a total of five dispute partners: Edwards, Robinson, and antitrust specialists Antonio Bavasso, Ross Ferguson, and Étienne Renaudeau. All three antitrust partners are also listed as partners in the firm’s Brussels office, which opened in September 2021 and is headed by Bavasso and Renaudeau. Continue reading “Revolving doors: Moves in disputes and antitrust as Paul Weiss continues sweep of London recruits”
King & Spalding has hired Sir Max Hill KC (pictured) into its London office. Hill served as director of public prosecutions for England and Wales from November 2018 to October 2023. A barrister since 1987, he took silk in 2008 and was knighted after leaving the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in January 2024.
Hill’s addition brings the number of KCs in the firm’s London office to four, alongside disputes partner Ruth Byrne KC, arbitration partner John Savage KC, and office managing partner Tom Sprange KC. Continue reading “King & Spalding takes another silk with hire of former director of public prosecutions”
By Sholto Lindsay-Smith, founding partner and director of brand strategy at Industry, an international brand and business consultancy.
As the management mantra goes, ‘you can’t manage what you can’t measure’. Law firms often undertake evaluation of their brand in pockets throughout the organisation by teams in HR, customer experience, internal and external communications. What is often missing is a 360-view which can summarise the brand strategy, identify brand-blockers and determine where to invest efforts in building brand advantage. This article considers the importance in assimilating this information to build a lasting brand advantage. Continue reading “How do you know when you have a brand advantage?”
The Post Office Horizon scandal saw over 700 subpostmasters convicted of fraud, theft, or false accounting. The victims were prosecuted for accounting shortfalls that were in fact the result of errors made by the Post Office’s Horizon accounting software.
At time of publication, fewer than 100 of those convictions have been overturned. Continue reading “‘The human cost’: Post Office Horizon fiasco throws scrutiny on litigators and shines light on litigation funding”
In a boost to its Washington DC presence, Freshfields has hired former Federal Trade Commissioner, Christine Wilson, as a senior adviser in its antitrust practice.
The firm has made a concerted effort to build out its antitrust offering in both the US and Europe over the last year. In October 2023, it appointed former senior director of mergers at the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, Colin Raftery, to the firm’s London office. While in June 2023, antitrust litigators Heather Lamberg and Justina Sessions joined the firm’s Washington DC and Silicon Valley antitrust practices. Antitrust and foreign investment practitioner Charlotte Colin-Dubuisson also joined the firm’s Paris office in January 2024. Continue reading “Freshfields snaps up former FTC commissioner to bolster US antitrust offering”
It has been a busy week for White & Case, with the firm seeing the return of Patrick Sarch to its global mergers and acquisitions practice in London. He will be head of UK public M&A in the London corporate/ M&A group.
Sarch worked at White & Case between January 2017 and March 2021, moving to Hogan Lovells in March 2021, where he was co-head of the firms UK M&A practice. He advises on corporate finance, cross-border, and domestic public company M&A. Continue reading “Revolving doors: White & Case doubles down on recruitment as BCLP loses three partners”
For this year’s Time to Talk Day (1 February), which aims to encourage workplaces to start a conversation about mental health, we sat down with Vinson & Elkins energy and infrastructure partner Andrew Nealon (pictured) to discuss the impact of law firm culture on mental health and some of the positive industry changes he has witnessed over the course of his career so far. Continue reading “Time to Talk Day Q&A: Andrew Nealon, Vinson & Elkins”
Paul Weiss has added yet another string to its bow, again to the detriment of Linklaters, with the hire of public M&A partner Dan Schuster-Woldan in London.
The move, the latest in Paul Weiss’ seemingly relentless onslaught on elite rivals, marks its first London partner hire of 2024. Continue reading “Linklaters’ losses mount as Paul Weiss picks up City public M&A partner”
Leading the high-profile moves this week, Baker McKenzie has welcomed partner Eric Schwartzman to head up its private equity practice in California, joining from Latham & Watkins.
With 25 years’ experience, Schwartzman specialises in advising private equity sponsors and companies on corporate matters, including M&A, recapitalisations, restructurings, and joint ventures across various industries. Continue reading “Revolving Doors: Double loss for Cravath as Freshfields strengthens US presence”
I have been working with law firms advising on strategic lateral partner hires for more than 20 years, and trying to predict what the market is going to do is not only challenging but futile, as the market often does exactly the opposite of what everyone thinks it is going to do.
Law firm growth and profitability is directly linked to hiring and developing the right people, be that as trainees, or as lateral partner hires. Even firms that have historically grown organically, such as the Magic Circle or single-office big hitters like Macfarlanes and Travers Smith, are increasingly making forays into the lateral recruitment market. This desire/need/pressure to grow and to get ahead of the curve has exploded in recent years and resulted in record numbers of partner and team moves, not to mention some eye-catching mergers.
Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: The lateral partner hiring landscape for 2024”
Nominations are now open for the most prestigious showcase of talent in the industry, the Legal Business Awards 2024.
The event will take place on Tuesday 17 September 2024 at The Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane, London. You have until 15 March to submit for any of the 26 categories open to teams or individuals. Continue reading “Legal Business Awards 2024 – nominations now open”
1. What are the key regulatory bodies overseeing the banking and finance sector in Poland, and what is their role in ensuring compliance with financial laws and regulations?
The main supervisory body in Poland is the Polish Financial Supervisory Authority (‘Komisja Nadzoru Finansowego’ or ‘KNF’). KNF supervises the banking, capital, insurance and pension sectors, payment institutions and payment service offices, electronic money institutions and credit unions. Continue reading “Sponsored Q&A: PwC”
Following a year of high interest rates, geopolitical uncertainty and inflation, the real estate sector would be forgiven for feeling a little worse for wear. However, when LB caught up with some of the industry’s leading partners, their outlook for 2024 was more positive than might be expected. While investment in traditional real estate transactions is down, opportunities in new areas of business are booming and the City’s lawyers are ready to diversify.
2023 dealt the real estate sector an enforced pause as landlords and investors grappled with rising interest rates. While the investment market is unlikely to bounce back to full force in 2024, more movement is expected. Continue reading “From wellness amenities to stranded assets: leading real estate partners give their 2024 predictions”
Quinn Emanuel made a significant move in London this week, hiring restructuring veteran David Ereira from Paul Hastings. In the Legal 500 Hall of Fame for corporate restructuring and insolvency, Ereira has a wealth of experience advising clients from governments to debtors, creditors, and investors on a wide range of insolvency and restructuring issues.
Ereira’s practice at Paul Hastings included non-contentious work, and this makes him a somewhat uncharacteristic hire for disputes-focused Quinn. Continue reading “Revolving doors: Restructuring veteran Ereira leaves Paul Hastings for Quinn as firms build up funds practices”
If there was any doubt remaining that infrastructure is a hot asset right now, BlackRock just eradicated it with its market-moving $12.5bn acquisition of Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP). The combined business will have infrastructure assets under management of more than $150bn worldwide, including London’s Gatwick Airport.
The planned transaction is the latest evidence of the sector’s resilience even against the backdrop of high inflation and interest rates and geopolitical uncertainty that have caused M&A and IPO levels generally to falter in recent years. Continue reading “If you build it – firms put together infra dream teams as market booms”
