Life Sciences

We serve our clients by offering legal skill steeped in scientific and industry knowledge, tapping a multidisciplinary team of practitioners to provide the life sciences industry with a full suite of government and internal investigations, class action, product liability and mass tort, patent, trade secret, antitrust, securities, compliance, capital markets, and corporate services. With lawyers deeply entrenched in the pharmaceutical and medical technology sectors—many of whom are themselves former scientists with advanced degrees in medicine, chemistry, and biology—we help clients stave off challenges to their devices, medications, and intellectual property while working alongside them to capitalize on opportunities unique to the industry.

Class Action and Product Liability Litigation

We have unmatched experience defending against—and defeating—high-stakes, multi-defendant, multi-jurisdictional litigation involving pharmaceuticals and medical devices. We have litigated individual suits, mass torts, and class actions in nearly all 50 states as well as dozens of multi-district proceedings involving allegedly defective products. Our comprehensive, forward-thinking approach sets us apart. We are known for developing early, creative, and uniform approaches to overarching legal issues, involving our nationally recognized appellate practitioners at the outset to help shape strategy and achieve results that benefit our clients beyond a single dispute, dramatically reducing risk well into the future.

Intellectual Property Litigation

Our life sciences IP litigators harness the resources that companies expect from an elite global litigation firm, but with the client-centric approach of an intellectual property boutique. Some of the nation’s preeminent practitioners and thought leaders in branded pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device patent litigation call O’Melveny home, including two MDs and several PhDs in the field. Our IPR team is led by a former Vice Chief Judge of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board and Senior Legal Advisor to the Director of the USPTO. And our trade secrets lawyers are published authorities on this evolving field of law, including one litigator who was asked to testify before Congress on the subject.

Antitrust

With boots on the ground in the US, Europe, and Asia, our antitrust capabilities span the globe. At local, regional, national, and international levels, we advocate for industry leaders entangled in high-stakes cartel investigations and litigation—from initial agency query to resolution and through appeal when necessary to vindicate our clients’ interests. We have prevailed in some of the most significant antitrust matters affecting the life sciences industry in the last two decades, capturing public and political attention. We shepherd mergers through global clearance processes, and we design antitrust-compliant corporate agreements—all with a clear eye to the economic realities that face life sciences companies.

Compliance and Government Investigations

Utilizing our extensive experience defending life sciences clients before prosecutors and regulators, and the knowledge gained by our many lawyers who have served in government positions, we guide clients, their audit committees, directors, corporate officers, and executives through myriad legal issues. These include investigations by the DOJ, state attorneys general, SEC, HHS-OIG, FDA, Congress, and other regulators, as well as sensitive internal investigations, compliance matters (domestic and foreign), and voluntary disclosures.

Capital Markets and Corporate

Our transactional lawyers have strong ties to the entrepreneurs, scientists, and venture capital firms that drive innovation in the life sciences sector. This allows us to unlock and maximize the value of life sciences companies around the globe and across the spectrum. We have lawyers on the ground in the key scientific and commercial centers in the US, including in New York/New Jersey’s pharmaceutical corridor and in San Francisco, the Silicon Valley, and Newport Beach, servicing California’s northern and southern biotechnology hubs. We are also well known in China’s burgeoning biotechnology market, particularly for bringing the best life sciences and biotech companies in China to the public markets in Hong Kong and the United States. Sophisticated and experienced, our counselors advise companies on all aspects of corporate governance, strategic transactions, and capital-raising transactions.