Deals & Corporate Governance
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April 18, 2025
PBMs Press 8th Circ. Bid To Pause FTC Case
The nation's "Big Three" pharmacy benefit managers are asking the Eighth Circuit to pause the Federal Trade Commission's in-house insulin price-fixing case against them, saying that their constitutional challenge to the commission's administrative proceeding process should be fully heard before the in-house case moves forward.
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April 17, 2025
Incyte Can Get Novartis' Privileged Info On Drug Royalty Deal
Novartis must produce certain privileged documents to Incyte concerning its understanding of their contract for royalty payments from sales of Incyte's blood cancer drug, unless Novartis agrees its former outside counsel, who negotiated the terms, won't testify about that topic at the upcoming contract breach trial, a New York federal judge said Thursday.
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April 17, 2025
NC Hospital Operator Can't Escape AG's Merger Suit Yet
A North Carolina Business Court judge rejected HCA Healthcare's bid for a partial win in state Attorney General Jeff Jackson's compliance suit reviewing the company's 2019 purchase of another hospital system, ruling that the purchase agreement's language is too ambiguous to decide the matter without further discovery.
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April 17, 2025
Zenas BioPharma Faces Investor Suit Over Post-IPO Plunge
Autoimmune disease therapeutics company Zenas BioPharma Inc. was hit with a proposed shareholder class action alleging that its registration statement for its September 2024 initial public offering overstated the amount of time that the company could fund its operations using existing cash and expected net proceeds from the offering.
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April 16, 2025
DexCom Execs Sued For Allegedly Misleading Growth Claims
Executives and directors of glucose monitor manufacturer DexCom Inc. have been hit with a derivative suit alleging that they concealed from investors that DexCom struggled to maintain a sales force that could keep up with growing demand following a Medicare policy expansion.
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April 15, 2025
9th Circ. Told Oregon Hospital Merger Law Flouts Due Process
A hospital trade group urged the Ninth Circuit on Monday to block an Oregon law allowing the Oregon Health Authority to review proposed healthcare business consolidations, arguing the law is "unconstitutionally vague" and bestows unlimited power on the agency to block healthcare transactions in the state.
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April 15, 2025
Big Pharma Touts US Investments Amid Tariff Threat
As tariffs loom on the horizon, Big Pharma companies laud their plans to ramp up U.S. manufacturing — even as they're set to eat costs for the foreseeable future.
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April 15, 2025
McGuireWoods Immune From Defamation Case, NC Panel Told
McGuireWoods LLP and a former partner have told a North Carolina state appeals court that they have absolute privilege over allegedly defamatory statements made in connection with an investigation into the former CEO of a managed care organization, arguing that the trial court should have granted them a pretrial win.
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April 15, 2025
Kirkland-Led Linden Wraps $5.4B Healthcare-Focused Fund
Healthcare-focused private equity shop Linden Capital Partners, advised by Kirkland & Ellis LLP, on Tuesday announced that it clinched its sixth fund with $5.4 billion of capital commitments.
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April 11, 2025
ÃÛÌÒÊÓÆµ To Pull Medical Debt Opinion, May Ax Nonbank Registry
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Friday that it will scrap recent guidance aimed at reining in medical debt collectors and may close out its new national nonbank enforcement registry, extending the agency's pullback from its Biden-era policies.
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April 11, 2025
Dentsply Brass Face Investor Suit Over Alleged Dental Injuries
Executives and directors of dental supply manufacturing company Dentsply Sirona Inc. have been hit with a derivative suit alleging they concealed that a company subsidiary was approving unsuitable patients for dental treatments to inflate sales figures.
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April 11, 2025
NC AG Can't Shield Most Merger Review Docs, Judge Holds
The North Carolina Attorney General's Office can't shield a host of internal records pertaining to its review of a 2019 hospital merger at the center of a compliance case, a state court judge has said, finding "only a few" records constitute protected attorney-client communications or work product.
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April 11, 2025
Aurinia Sues Lotus Alleging Lupus Drug Patent Infringement
Kidney-focused biotech Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. on Friday launched a lawsuit in New Jersey federal court claiming that Lotus Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.'s bid to sell a generic form of Aurinia's lupus nephritis treatment Lupkynis infringes a pair of patents.
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April 11, 2025
5th Circ. Revives Unfair Competition Fight Over Arthritis Drug
The Fifth Circuit has revived Zyla Life Sciences LLC's lawsuit seeking to block Texas rival Wells Pharma from selling rheumatoid arthritis drug suppositories that aren't U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved, rejecting Wells Pharma's argument that Zyla's state claims are preempted under federal law and noting that finding otherwise would have "staggering" implications.
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April 11, 2025
Future Pak Goes Public With $255M Theratechnologies Bid
Pharmaceutical manufacturer and packager Future Pak LLC, advised by Honigman LLP, on Friday publicly unveiled its proposal to acquire pharmaceutical company Theratechnologies Inc. for up to $255 million, a move that comes after Future Pak has received "minimal engagement" from the other company.
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April 08, 2025
Iowa Hospital's Decline Gets Close Look In Bankruptcy Case
The former operator of a now-bankrupt Iowa hospital is facing scrutiny over allegations the hospital suffered massive operating losses while paying some $9 million to the operator in fees in the years before its financial collapse.
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April 08, 2025
Healthcare IPOs Take Another Hit Amid Trump Tariff War
Hopes for an improving healthcare public market all but vanished after a sweeping tariffs announcement from Washington set off a wave of market volatility.
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April 08, 2025
Pacira Reaches IP Deal Allowing Generic Painkiller In 2030
Pacira BioSciences has agreed to settle a series of patent infringement lawsuits against Fresenius Kabi and other pharmaceutical companies over Pacira's drug Exparel, a long-acting injectable for managing postsurgical pain.
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April 08, 2025
Hospital Operator Gets 'Burdensome' Antitrust Info Bid Pared
A North Carolina federal judge has pared HCA Healthcare Inc.'s subpoenas to a hospital network in a consolidated antitrust case accusing it of hiking Tar Heel State public employees' health insurance costs, putting a two-hour time limit on the depositions it sought and cutting three years of requested information.
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April 08, 2025
Pharmaceutical Tariff Exemption Is No End to Cost Threat
The life sciences industry escaped much of the immediate impact of President Donald Trump's market-shaking tariff order, thanks to the inclusion of a single word on an exemption list — "pharmaceuticals." The relief may not last long.
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April 08, 2025
Facing Private Equity Pressures, Doctors Head Back To School
As private equity continues to reach into the healthcare space, some doctors are joining physician-focused MBA programs, honing new skills to better compete in a rapidly changing business.
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April 08, 2025
Longtime Cooley Life Sciences Ace Jumps To Wilson Sonsini
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC has hired a former Cooley LLP partner for its corporate department to strengthen the services offered by its life sciences practice, it announced on Tuesday.
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April 08, 2025
Amedisys Gets Merger Filing Claim Paused In DOJ's UHG Suit
A Maryland federal judge has hit pause on part of the Justice Department lawsuit challenging UnitedHealth's $3.3 billion acquisition of home health and hospice company Amedisys, preferring to handle the merger challenge first and only then turn to allegations that Amedisys shirked its merger filing requirements.
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April 07, 2025
Torrent Seeks Arbitration In Drug Commercialization Fight
A subsidiary of Indian multinational company Torrent Pharmaceuticals is urging a Delaware judge to force OWP Pharmaceuticals to arbitrate a dispute over issues that allegedly delayed the U.S. commercialization of its epilepsy and anti-seizure medications.
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April 07, 2025
Incyte Can't Get Pretrial Win In Novartis Royalty Fight
A New York federal judge has disagreed with Incyte Corp.'s argument that its interpretation of a drug commercialization contract at the heart of a royalties dispute with Novartis Pharma AG is the right one, ahead of a jury trial scheduled next month.
Expert Analysis
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Navigating Scrutiny Of Friendly Professional Corps. In Calif.
In light of ongoing scrutiny and challenges to private equity participation in the California healthcare marketplace, particularly surrounding the use of the friendly professional corporation model, management services organizations should consider implementing four best practices, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.
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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: June Lessons
In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy considers two recent decisions from the Third and Tenth Circuits, and identifies practice tips around class action settlements and standing in securities litigation.
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The Current State Of Healthcare Transaction Reviews In Calif.
As of April, certain healthcare transactions in California have been subject to additional notification compliance requirements, and complying with these new rules could significantly delay and discourage some deals, says Andrew Demetriou at Husch Blackwell.
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Careful Data Governance Is A Must Amid Enforcement Focus
Federal and state regulators' heightened focus on privacy enforcement, including the Federal Trade Commission's recent guidance on consumer protection in the car industry, highlight the importance of proactive risk management, compliance and data governance, say Jason Priebe and Danny Riley at Seyfarth.
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5 Steps To Navigating State Laws On Healthcare Transactions
As more states pass legislation requiring healthcare-transaction notice, private equity investors and other deal parties should evaluate the new laws and consider ways to mitigate their effects, say Carol Loepere and Nicole Aiken-Shaban at Reed Smith.
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Feds' Biotech Enforcement Efforts Are Too Heavy-Handed
The U.S. Department of Justice's recent actions against biotech companies untether the Anti-Kickback Statute from its original legislative purpose, and threaten to stifle innovation and undermine patient quality of care, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
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Del. Ruling Highlights M&A Deal Adviser Conflict Disclosures
The Delaware Supreme Court recently reversed the Court of Chancery's dismissal of challenges to Nordic Capital's acquisition of Inovalon, demonstrating the importance of full disclosure of financial adviser conflicts when a going-private merger seeks business judgment rule review, say attorneys at Debevoise.
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A Recipe For Growth Equity Investing In A Slow M&A Market
Carl Marcellino at Ropes & Gray discusses the factors bolstering appetite for growth equity fundraising in a depressed M&A market, and walks through the deal terms and other ingredients that set growth equity transactions apart from bread-and-butter venture capital investing.
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PE-Healthcare Mergers Should Prepare For Challenges
State and federal regulators are increasingly imposing new requirements on healthcare transactions involving private equity partners, with mergers that would have drawn little scrutiny a few years ago now requiring a multijurisdictional risk analysis during the deal formation process, say attorneys at Stinson.
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Behind Indiana's Broad New Healthcare Transactions Law
The high materiality threshold in Indiana's recently passed healthcare transaction law, coupled with the inclusion of private equity in its definition of healthcare entities, makes it one of the broadest state review regulations to date, say attorneys at DLA Piper.
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Highlights From The 2024 ABA Antitrust Spring Meeting
U.S. merger enforcement and cartels figured heavily in this year's American Bar Association spring antitrust meeting, where one key takeaway included news that the Federal Trade Commission's anticipated changes to the Hart-Scott-Rodino form may be less dramatic than many originally feared, say attorneys at Freshfields.
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The Merger Cases That Will Matter At ABA Antitrust Meeting
While the American Bar Association's Antitrust Spring Meeting this week will cover all types of competition law issues in the U.S. and abroad, expect the federal agencies' recent track record in merger enforcement to be a key area of focus on the official panels and in cocktail party chatter, say attorneys at Freshfields.
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Planning For Healthcare-Private Equity Antitrust Enforcement
U.S. antitrust agency developments could mean potential enforcement actions on healthcare-related acquisitions by private equity funds are on the way, and entities operating in this space should follow a series of practice tips, including early assessment of antitrust risks on both the state and federal level, say Ryan Quillian and John Kendrick at Covington.