Deals & Corporate Governance
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March 15, 2024
'Cobra Venom' Painkiller Co. Inks Deal To Settle SEC Claims
A penny stock company that previously held itself out as a maker of cobra venom-infused pain drugs has agreed to resolve U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission fraud claims, according to court filings that note the company's two principals have also reached a settlement.
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March 15, 2024
Hospitals Say Constitutional Defenses Valid In FTC Merger Row
Two North Carolina hospital systems shot back at the Federal Trade Commission's contention that constitutional defenses are immaterial to the agency's challenge of a $320 million merger plan, arguing that case law shows that striking the positions would be premature.
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March 14, 2024
Clinicians May Continue Kickback Suit Vs. Mental Health Co.
A mental healthcare company can't dodge a suit claiming that it implemented a kickback scheme to pay its clinicians that led to unpaid wages, an Arizona federal judge ruled, saying the workers suing the organization supported their claims.
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March 14, 2024
PE-Backed Latin American Healthcare Firm Prices $420M IPO
Private equity-backed Latin American hospital operator Auna SA on Thursday set a price range on an estimated $420 million U.S. initial public offering, with plans to use the proceeds to repay debt and financing agreements.
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March 14, 2024
Drug Wholesalers Want Preliminary OK On $265M Sandoz Deal
A group of direct purchasers of generic drugs has asked a Pennsylvania federal court for approval of a $265 million settlement with Swiss drugmaker Sandoz over allegations of federal antitrust violations.
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March 13, 2024
TriZetto's $200M Jury Awards Thrown Out In Syntel Dispute
A New York federal judge on Wednesday vacated roughly $200 million in damages awards Cognizant affiliate TriZetto won in a trade secret misappropriation and copyright infringement suit against Syntel, ruling that the awards were improperly calculated.
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March 13, 2024
Hospital Operator Defends Releases In Ch. 11 Plan
California-based hospital operator Alecto Healthcare Services LLC asked a Delaware bankruptcy judge Wednesday to approve its small business Chapter 11 reorganization, saying it is not leaving money on the table by releasing potential clawback claims.
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March 13, 2024
Moderna's CLO Saw Growth In 2023 Compensation
Moderna Inc.'s top attorney earned about $4.3 million in total compensation last year, an increase compared to 2022 but a steep drop from the near $11.5 million she saw in 2021, according to a recent securities filing.
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March 12, 2024
Breast Implant Co.'s $90M DIP OK'd With Creditor Protections
Bankrupt breast implant maker Sientra Inc. received final court approval in Delaware bankruptcy court for its $90 million debtor-in-possession financing after adding in lien challenge protections for unsecured creditors.
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March 12, 2024
UnitedHealth Can't Get Early Win In Workers' ERISA Suit
A Minnesota federal court denied most of UnitedHealth Group Inc.'s bid for a pretrial win in a lawsuit alleging mismanagement of an employee 401(k) plan, finding Tuesday that allegations the company refused to ax underperforming funds to preserve a business relationship with Wells Fargo should go to trial.
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March 11, 2024
Acadia Investors Get Class Cert. In Suit Over Parkinson's Drug
A California federal judge on Monday certified a class of Acadia Pharmaceuticals investors in a lawsuit accusing the company of making false and misleading statements regarding the likelihood that its Parkinson's psychosis drug would also be approved for the broader use of dementia-related psychosis.
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March 11, 2024
Illumina Brass Faces Shareholder Suit Over Grail Deal Debacle
Current and former directors and executives of Illumina, including former U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, have been hit with a shareholder derivative suit in California federal court over their role in the biotech company's failed $8 billion deal to reacquire its cancer-detection company Grail Inc.
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March 11, 2024
Judge OKs Eye Care Tech Co.'s $8M DIP Request
A Texas bankruptcy judge on Monday approved optometry software company Eye Care Leaders Portfolio Holdings LLC's request to draw on the remainder of its $8 million in debtor-in-possession funds for its Chapter 11 case, saying the company had given good reason to believe it was poised for a rewarding auction.
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March 11, 2024
Walmart Fails To Sink Feds' Opioid Crisis Lawsuit
A Delaware federal judge on Monday kept alive a government lawsuit accusing Walmart of fueling the nation's opioid crisis, ruling that the company could be held liable for filling illegitimate prescriptions its compliance officers allegedly failed to flag for unwitting pharmacists.
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March 08, 2024
Deadline Drama Briefly Threatens Suit Against Insurer VSP
A California federal judge threatened Thursday to toss Total Vision's antitrust claims accusing eye care insurance giant VSP of hamstringing it, in what appears to be a misreading of the schedule over missed deadlines that were actually pushed back, prompting the threat's retraction the next day.
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March 08, 2024
UK Enforcers To Appeal Nixed £100M Hydrocortisone Fine
Britain's competition enforcer is planning to appeal a tribunal's ruling that upended more than £100 million ($128.6 million) in fines against several drug companies for allegedly reaching agreements that increased the price of hydrocortisone tablets.
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March 08, 2024
Sorrento Gets OK For $2M Ch. 11 Funding Infusion, Asset Sale
A Texas bankruptcy judge on Friday approved drug developer Sorrento Therapeutics Inc.'s bid for an asset sale and $2 million in funds to fuel its Chapter 11 case, saying they represented the only option outside of a transition to Chapter 7.
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March 08, 2024
Pa. Court Grants Seizure Of Nursing Homes In 'Dire' Condition
A Pennsylvania federal court has granted an emergency request for a receiver to take control of six nursing homes in the state that Revere Tactical Opportunities REIT LLC claims were left in a "dire financial condition" by the properties' owners, who had also allegedly defaulted on a $30 million loan.
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March 07, 2024
Harpoon Shareholder Sues For Records On $680M Merck Buy
A shareholder of Harpoon Therapeutics Inc. sued in Delaware's Court of Chancery Thursday for corporate documents related to the company's proposed $680 million cash buyout by Merck, saying the proposed deal appears to unfairly "lock in a windfall for select Harpoon investors."
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March 07, 2024
Activist Caligan Sets Sights On Anika Therapeutics Again
New York-based activist investor Caligan Partners LP disclosed a nearly 10% stake in Anika Therapeutics and nominated two director candidates, a move that comes a year after the hedge fund urged the biotech company to consider "urgent changes" to its operations and structure.
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March 06, 2024
J&J Seeks Exit From Suit Over Stelara Exclusivity
Johnson & Johnson told a Virginia federal court Tuesday it shouldn't have to face a proposed class action claiming it has been trying to stifle competition in the market for the immunosuppressive drug Stelara, saying there was no "scheme" to enforce its patents as the suit alleges.
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March 06, 2024
FTC Can Depose Hospitals' Execs In Merger Challenge
A North Carolina federal magistrate judge has overruled two hospital systems' objections to the depositions of six Novant Health employees by the Federal Trade Commission in its antitrust action against a proposed $320 million merger, rejecting the healthcare providers' arguments that such depositions would be duplicative.
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March 06, 2024
Biopharmaceutical Biz Closes $259M Upsized Funding Round
South San Francisco, California-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company Alumis Inc. on Wednesday announced that it closed its upsized Series C funding round after securing $259 million from venture capital investors.
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March 06, 2024
Rite Aid Aims To Divest Most Of Its Health Dialog Business
Bankrupt drugstore chain Rite Aid Corp. said Wednesday that it will sell most of its Health Dialog business, which provides personalized health services, to Carenet Health for an undisclosed amount.
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March 05, 2024
FTC Chair Decries PE's Healthcare Impacts As Probe Starts
Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan on Tuesday lamented what she deemed the "financialization" of healthcare resulting from private equity buyouts, in remarks coinciding with the launch of a multijurisdictional request for public comment on PE and other companies' growing control over the healthcare system.
Expert Analysis
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Tips For Litigating Against Pro Se Parties In Complex Disputes
Litigating against self-represented parties in complex cases can pose unique challenges for attorneys, but for the most part, it requires the same skills that are useful in other cases — from documenting everything to understanding one’s ethical duties, says Bryan Ketroser at Alto Litigation.
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It's Time To Prescribe Frameworks For AI-Driven Health Care
As health care providers begin to adopt artificial intelligence in clinical settings, new legal and regulatory challenges are emerging, with the critical issue being balancing AI's benefits and innovations in health care while ensuring patient safety and provider accountability, say attorneys at Kirkland.
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Preparing For Higher Health Transaction Standards In Calif.
The California Office of Health Care Affordability's revised draft regulations on the reporting of health care transactions incorporate useful improvements to the regulatory scheme, but also contain provisions that may cause concerns for parties contemplating covered transactions, says Andrew Demetriou at Husch Blackwell.
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How Ill. Supreme Court Could Shape Statutory Violation Cases
In Fausett v. Walgreens, the Illinois Supreme Court will take up the question of whether a violation of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act satisfies the injury-in-fact requirement, and any outcome could significantly change the litigation landscape in Illinois, say Donald Patrick Eckler and Joshua Zhao at Freeman Mathis.
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Pro Bono Work Is Powerful Self-Help For Attorneys
Oct. 22-28 is Pro Bono Week, serving as a useful reminder that offering free legal help to the public can help attorneys expand their legal toolbox, forge community relationships and create human connections, despite the challenges of this kind of work, says Orlando Lopez at Culhane Meadows.
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Playing In A Rock Cover Band Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Performing in a classic rock cover band has driven me to hone several skills — including focus, organization and networking — that have benefited my professional development, demonstrating that taking time to follow your muse outside of work can be a boon to your career, says Michael Gambro at Cadwalader.
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The Pop Culture Docket: Judge Espinosa On 'Lincoln Lawyer'
The murder trials in Netflix’s “The Lincoln Lawyer” illustrate the stark contrast between the ethical high ground that fosters and maintains the criminal justice system's integrity, and the ethical abyss that can undermine it, with an important reminder for all legal practitioners, say Judge Adam Espinosa and Andrew Howard at the Colorado 2nd Judicial District Court.
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How To Navigate The FTC's New Private Equity Frontier
The Federal Trade Commission's recent district court complaint against an anesthesia firm and its private equity partner tests key bounds of the agency's stand-alone authority, and defense strategies can include challenges to both the geographic and the service market fronts, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.
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Newman Suspension Shows Need For Judicial Reform
The recent suspension of U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman following her alleged refusal to participate in a disability inquiry reveals the need for judicial misconduct reforms to ensure that judges step down when they can no longer serve effectively, says Aliza Shatzman at The Legal Accountability Project.
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Considerations And Calculations For DOJ Clawback Program
The U.S. Department of Justice’s clawback pilot program announced earlier this year presents numerous questions for businesses, and both hypothetical and recent real-world examples capture how companies’ cost-benefit analyses about whether to claw back compensation in exchange for penalty reductions may differ, say Yogesh Bahl and Jonathan Hecht at Resolution Economics.
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SEC's Life Sciences Actions Utilize Novel Tools And Theories
Recent enforcement actions show that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is employing new forms of data analytics and noteworthy applications of insider trading laws in its scrutiny of fraud within the life sciences and health industries, say Edward Imperatore and Jina Choi at MoFo.
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How And Why Your Firm Should Implement Fixed-Fee Billing
Amid rising burnout in the legal industry and client efforts to curtail spending, pivoting to a fixed-fee billing model may improve client-attorney relationships and offer lawyers financial, logistical and stress relief — while still maintaining profit margins, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.
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A Guide For Landlords Pivoting To Medical Office Buildings
The current commercial real estate landscape presents a unique opportunity for landlords, real estate developers and investors to accommodate the growing health care industry's need for office buildings, though proper navigation of complex regulations and leasing concerns is necessary, says Mehdi Sinaki at Michelman & Robinson.