Life Sciences

  • June 25, 2026

    2 Firms Lead Merck's $11.3B Bio-Techne Life Sciences Deal

    Germany's Merck has agreed to acquire Bio-Techne Corp. in an all-cash deal valuing the U.S.-based life sciences tools company at about $11.3 billion, including debt, the companies said Thursday.

  • June 25, 2026

    Monsanto Wins High Court Fight Over Roundup Cancer Warnings

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday handed Monsanto a win in its long-running litigation battle over the labeling of alleged cancer risks of its bestselling weedkiller Roundup, clearing the path for a $7.25 billion settlement to end thousands of suits facing the Bayer AG unit by finding that the state law claims underlying a $1.25 million jury verdict are barred.

  • June 24, 2026

    NY Judge Halts DOJ Bid For Trans Youth Medical Records

    A New York federal judge Wednesday barred the U.S. Department of Justice from seeking medical records of transgender patients who received gender-affirming care as minors in the wake of a grand jury subpoena to NYU Langone Health System, saying the government's investigation doesn't outweigh the patients' privacy interests.

  • June 24, 2026

    Wholesalers Say Novo Can't Duck GLP-1 Antitrust Suits

    Drug buyers want a New York federal judge to preserve proposed class claims accusing Novo Nordisk of paying Teva to delay generic competition with its Victoza GLP-1 drug, arguing that whatever the underlying deal was, no generic version materialized when it could have.  

  • June 24, 2026

    Florida AG Opens Probe Over CVS' Ownership Of Caremark

    Florida state enforcers are investigating CVS Corp. over concerns that its ownership of the pharmacy benefits manager Caremark allows it to steer patients to its own retail pharmacies while taking steps to hinder independent rivals.

  • June 24, 2026

    Pfizer Defeats Generic Drug Claims From State AGs

    A Connecticut federal court tossed the claims against Pfizer Inc. in one of three cases by state enforcers accusing dozens of generic-drug makers of price-fixing, finding Pfizer was not responsible for the alleged price increases on several drugs.

  • June 24, 2026

    Gene Therapy Co. Sangamo Gets Initial OK For $30M DIP

    A Delaware bankruptcy judge on Wednesday granted interim approval of a $30 million Chapter 11 financing package for biotechnology company Sangamo Therapeutics Inc., funds that the debtor will use to support a sale process for its assets.

  • June 23, 2026

    Texas Woman Says ERs Violated EMTALA Amid Miscarriage

    A Texas woman urged the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to investigate two providers over their alleged violations of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, or EMTALA, when she sought treatment for a miscarriage, arguing her case "is not an isolated incident."

  • June 23, 2026

    FTC Tells 4th Circ. Court Got It Wrong In J&J Stelara Case

    The Federal Trade Commission has told the Fourth Circuit that a Virginia federal court messed up when it ruled in an antitrust suit against Johnson & Johnson that the company bringing the suit needed to show specific intent in order to prop up a monopolization claim over the immunosuppressive drug Stelara.

  • June 23, 2026

    No Slowdown: A Midyear Look At FDA Ad Enforcement

    An FDA drug ad enforcement surge that began last year continued in the first half of 2026. Experts say the agency is looking hard at the overall impression an ad makes, including in broad emotional appeals to consumers.

  • June 23, 2026

    Stryker Says Data Breach Suit Built On Speculation

    Michigan-based medical technology company Stryker Corp. has asked a federal judge to toss a proposed class action over a March cyberattack, arguing the former and current employees suing the company cannot show their personal information was accessed or that they suffered any injury tied to the incident.

  • June 23, 2026

    Green Group Wants Records Behind Trump's Weed Killer Order

    An environmental organization on Monday sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture in D.C. federal court, seeking records behind President Donald Trump's executive order to hike the production of glyphosate, the active ingredient in the weed killer Roundup, an allegedly carcinogenic pesticide at the center of an imminent U.S. Supreme Court decision.

  • June 23, 2026

    BioNTech Accused Of Firing Nurse Over Drug Trial Concerns

    A former senior clinical trial manager at BioNTech US Inc. told a North Carolina federal court Monday that she was wrongfully fired after complaining to higher-ups about an "epidemic of safety issues and protocol deviations" in clinical trials.

  • June 23, 2026

    Feds Tout AI's Role In $6.5B Healthcare Fraud Crackdown

    Federal authorities said Tuesday that artificial intelligence and sophisticated data analysis helped them detect and prosecute healthcare fraud as part of a national crackdown that resulted in charges against 455 defendants.

  • June 23, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Backs Pfizer Win In Paxlovid Patent Dispute

    The Federal Circuit on Tuesday refused to revive a patent that Pfizer was accused of infringing through its blockbuster Paxlovid COVID-19 treatment, rejecting the patent owner's arguments over what it said was a typo in a patent document.

  • June 23, 2026

    Gene Therapy Developer Sangamo Hits Ch. 11 With Sale Plans

    Sangamo Therapeutics Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection in Delaware on Tuesday with offers to sell parts of its genetic therapy development programs to Eli Lilly and Co. and Astellas Pharma Inc.

  • June 22, 2026

    Can Unread Emails Trigger Arbitration? 9th Circ. Airs Doubts

    Medical supplies giant Thermo Fisher Scientific pressed a Ninth Circuit panel Monday to agree that the company's repeated emails about litigation waivers should send an ex-employee's proposed class action to arbitration, but the judges repeatedly questioned why no one simply asked if the worker saw the emails.

  • June 22, 2026

    Cassava Investors Ink $31M Drug Suit Deal Alongside Appeal

    Cassava Sciences investors have asked a Texas federal judge to preliminarily approve a $31 million settlement that ends their claims the pharmaceutical company inflated its stock prices with misleading information about its Alzheimer's drug research, a deal that could be upended if the court's class certification order is reversed on appeal.

  • June 22, 2026

    Zymergen Investors Get First OK For $125M Settlement

    Former executives, underwriters and large investors of now-defunct biotechnology company Zymergen received initial approval on Monday of a $125 million deal to end claims that they misled shareholders ahead of the company's initial public offering by approving misstatements about Zymergen's commercial product pipeline.

  • June 22, 2026

    FTC Requires Fix For Aurobindo's $250M Lannett Deal

    The Federal Trade Commission is allowing Aurobindo Pharma Ltd. to move ahead with its planned $250 million acquisition of Lannett Co. Inc., after the pharmaceutical company agreed to unload four generic drug products to prevent potential overlaps.

  • June 22, 2026

    No Trial For Splenda Maker, Scientist In Defamation Suit

    Splenda maker TC Heartland LLC and the scientist whom it accused of defamation were sent packing from North Carolina federal court Monday, after a judge found neither had offered evidence to overcome the other's First Amendment right to talk about scientific research.

  • June 22, 2026

    Sorrento RICO Case Naming Jackson Walker Gets Axed

    A Texas bankruptcy judge blocked a lawsuit in California federal court alleging Jackson Walker LLP and executives at Sorrento Therapeutics and M3 Partners conspired to forum shop in Texas so the drug developer could seek Chapter 11 protection in an "ethically compromised" bankruptcy court, ruling the suit's claims are barred by Sorrento's bankruptcy plan.

  • June 22, 2026

    NORML Fights Exclusion From DEA Pot Rescheduling Hearing

    The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, a leading cannabis consumer advocate, has asked the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to reconsider its move freezing out all pro-reform voices from upcoming hearings on a proposal to reschedule marijuana.

  • June 22, 2026

    Yale Health Escapes Trade Law Claim In Insemination Suit

    Yale New Haven Health Services Corp. has defeated Connecticut trade law, emotional distress and informed consent claims in a lawsuit accusing a doctor of fraudulently using his own sperm to inseminate a fertility patient, but the hospital network holding entity must face a fraud allegation, a state judge has ruled.

  • June 22, 2026

    3rd Circ. Backs Quest Over Claims Of Bad 401(k) Management

    The Third Circuit on Monday affirmed Quest Diagnostics Inc.'s victory over a proposed class action accusing the company of mismanaging its employee 401(k) plan, holding the company followed a prudent process in deciding to retain two challenged investment funds despite periods of underperformance.

Expert Analysis

  • DTSA Data Shows Hidden Value Of Ex Parte Seizure Filings

    Author Photo

    Ten years of Defend Trade Secrets Act data indicate that although there is a low success rate for civil seizure applications, intellectual property litigators should continue filing them anyway in order to better their odds of obtaining other provisional relief, say attorneys at Reed Smith.

  • Becoming The Biz-Savvy GC That Portfolio Companies Need

    Author Photo

    Candidates for general counsel roles at private equity-backed portfolio companies should prioritize proving their sector-specific experience, commercial judgment and ease with uncertainty — and attorneys hoping to be candidates in five to 10 years should start working on those skills now, says Dimitri Mastrocola at Major Lindsey.

  • AI Regulatory Gaps May Fuel FCA Enforcement Action

    Author Photo

    The intersection of artificial intelligence and False Claims Act enforcement presents legal risk for government contractors across several industries, particularly in the absence of a federal regulatory framework explicitly governing its development and use, say attorneys at O’Melveny.

  • Series

    Judges On AI: How Courts Can Survive The Tech Revolution

    Author Photo

    Colorado Supreme Court Justice Maria Berkenkotter and Colorado Court of Appeals Judge Lino Lipinsky de Orlov discuss how artificial intelligence has already fundamentally altered the legal system and offer tips for courts navigating deepfakes, hallucinations and a gap in access to AI tools.

  • 'Skinny Label' Arguments Spotlight Induced Infringement Risk

    Author Photo

    Recent oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in Hikma Pharmaceuticals v. Amarin Pharma highlight the uncertain boundary between lawful generic competition through so-called skinny labels and induced patent infringement, with potential implications for patent holders’ communication, enforcement and causation strategies across industries, says Anton Hopen at Trenam.

  • Startup Founder Disputes Increasingly Turn On Governance

    Author Photo

    Recent Delaware developments suggest that as courts place increasing emphasis on board process, independence and oversight in founder-led startups, the growing intersection of governance, technology risk and investor oversight is accelerating both the emergence and escalation of founder disputes, says mediator Frank Burke.

  • 3 AI Adoption Mistakes GCs Should Avoid

    Author Photo

    The pressure in-house legal teams face to quickly adopt artificial intelligence tools, combined with budget constraints and the need to evaluate a crowded market of options, sets the stage for implementation mistakes that are often difficult to undo, says former 23andMe general counsel Guy Chayoun.

  • Series

    Playing Basketball Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    My grandfather used to say "I wear your jersey" as shorthand for wholly committing to support someone with loyalty and integrity — ideals that have shaped my life on the basketball court and in legal practice, says Tracy Schimelfenig at Schimelfenig Legal.

  • EPA Listing Signals New Scrutiny Of Drugs In Drinking Water

    Author Photo

    The recent publication of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's latest draft drinking water contaminant list highlights pharmaceuticals as a category of concern, marking the start of a process that could shape future research priorities, monitoring requirements, and federal and state actions, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • How Del. Courts Will Likely Evaluate AI Oversight Claims

    Author Photo

    While no Delaware court has thus far adjudicated a claim based on alleged board failures to oversee artificial intelligence risk, recent Court of Chancery decisions suggest that familiar Caremark principles will be applied in predictable but consequential ways, particularly when AI touches mission‑critical operations, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

  • Opinion

    5th Circ.'s Abortion Pill Order Is Shaky On Multiple Grounds

    Author Photo

    The Fifth Circuit's recent order in Louisiana v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, reinstating an in-person dispensing requirement for the abortion medication mifepristone, seems to turn federalism upside-down, and is also questionable for several other reasons, says Gregory Curtner at Curtner Law.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Georgia Court Has Business On Its Mind

    Author Photo

    Thanks to recent legislation, the Georgia State-wide Business Court will soon offer business litigants greater access to the court than ever before, further enhancing the court's emphasis on efficiency, predictability and accessibility for sophisticated commercial disputes, says former GSBC judge Walt Davis at Jones Day.

  • Opinion

    USPTO Must Address The Right Question In Sanofi Case

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Appeals Review Panel's questions in Ex parte Baurin indicate recognition of broader doctrinal issues, but rather than approaching from separate angles, the panel should concentrate on a single fundamental question about obviousness-type double patenting, says Jeremy Lowe at Spencer Fane.

  • 4 Emerging Approaches To AI Protective Order Language

    Author Photo

    Over the last year, at least five federal district courts have issued or analyzed specific protective order provisions restricting the use of generative artificial intelligence platforms with protected materials, establishing that proactive AI-specific provisions are now standard practice and demonstrating that no single model works for every case, says Joel Bush at Kilpatrick.

  • What Justices Are Focusing On In 'Skinny Label' Patent Case

    Author Photo

    Though Hikma v. Amarin appears to be a patent dispute that could reshape inducement doctrine in the pharmaceutical context, oral argument suggests the U.S. Supreme Court may treat this as primarily a pleading-stage dispute, with important unresolved questions lurking beneath the surface, says Shashank Upadhye at Upadhye Tang.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Life Sciences archive.