Life Sciences

Orrick’s global Antitrust and Competition Group is at the forefront of critical antitrust and competition issues. In addition to our vast litigation experience, we regularly counsel clients in the life sciences industry on matters such as dominant firm conduct, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, international investigations, distribution restrictions and intellectual property licensing. Our work includes strategic advice to drug makers and distributors on pricing strategies, dealing with hospitals and managed care organizations and various competition agencies. Select matters include:

• Aland (Jiangsu) Nutraceutical Co. Ltd. Orrick represents one of four major Chinese manufacturers of vitamin C in the first-ever antitrust case in the U.S. courts against Chinese companies. The case, a class action, is based on alleged price-fixing that caused the price of vitamin C exported to the United States to rise to a supra-competitive level. Defendants say that the Chinese government mandated coordination of prices and output, a position that amicus submissions by the Chinese government support. Orrick negotiated a favorable settlement for Aland.
• Paddock Pharmaceuticals. Orrick assisted Paddock Pharmaceuticals through U.S. Federal Trade Commission investigation and clearance of its US$540 million acquisition by Perrigo Pharmaceuticals.
• Medco Health Solutions, Inc. Orrick represents premier pharmacy benefit manager Medco Health Solutions, Inc. (now part of Express Scripts, Inc.) in federal and state litigation against nearly all major pharmacy benefit management companies alleging violation of a California statute concerning the conduct and distribution of pharmacy dispensing fee studies. Our lawyers secured dismissal of all state court litigation; federal litigation remains pending.

Our corporate and technology transactions teams represent life sciences companies at all phases of development from early stage to publicly traded. We represent licensors, licensees, developers, investors in new technology, large technology companies, sellers and purchasers of new and existing technology, vendors and buyers of content, inventors and emerging technology companies—helping all parties to a transaction understand each other’s strategic interests. Clients enlist us to craft the full range of commercial and partnering arrangements, including agreements to develop, license, test, market, manufacture, supply, distribute, co-brand, advertise, protect and acquire or divest technology, products, medical devices, pharmaceutical products, Internet properties, digital content and related intellectual property rights.

Our relationships with more than 100 venture capital firms assist clients in securing crucial financing. Work for established companies includes public offerings, mergers and acquisitions and corporate governance. We negotiate crucial strategic alliances and collaboration deals, including numerous international licensing agreements, and we also advise on the securitization of royalty payments. Select matters include:

• Sigma-Tau Pharmaceuticals. Orrick advised the Sigma-Tau Pharmaceuticals group, a U.S.-based, wholly owned subsidiary of the Sigma-Tau Group, and dedicated solely to the development and commercialization of medicines for patients with rare diseases, in the sale of a substantial portion of its shareholdings in SciClone Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCLN) pursuant to both a registered secondary offering and SciClone’s stock repurchase program. Orrick also advised Sigma-Tau in its US$327 million acquisition of the specialty products division of Enzon Pharmaceuticals.
• Par Pharmaceutical Companies, Inc. Orrick advised Par Pharmaceutical Companies, Inc. (NYSE:PRX), a developer, manufacturer and marketer of high barrier-to-entry generic drugs and niche, innovative proprietary pharmaceuticals, in its US$1.9 billion take private acquisition by TPG Capital. Orrick also assisted Par on numerous other transactions, including its US$410 million acquisition of Anchen Pharmaceuticals, a privately-held specialty pharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing extended release and niche generic products.
• 23andMe. Orrick advised 23andMe, a personal genetics company in the United States and internationally, in its acquisition of Cure Together, owner and operater of social web-based platforms that provide information on chronic pain and operates as a healthcare community. Orrick has also advised 23andMe with regard to equity financings.

Our intellectual property litigators are widely recognized for trial and appellate successes. We have delivered exceptional results for major pharmaceutical companies in courts across the United States for three decades. Our deep bench of first-chair IP lawyers has demonstrable technical depth in patent applications, with more than half of our IP litigators admitted to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. We closely monitor the evolving jurisprudence regarding gene patents and we are prepared to defend false advertising claims brought under the Lanham Act. Select matters include:

• Dow AgroSciences (DAS). Orrick is lead counsel defending DAS against a patent infringement suit brought by Bayer CropScience AG (Bayer) in the United States District of Delaware. Bayer alleged that DAS’s Enlist product line infringed Bayer’s patent (patent number 6,153,410). On September 27, 2012, Orrick achieved a dismissal of Bayer’s multi-billion dollar patent infringement case on summary judgment.
• Tekmira Pharmaceuticals. Orrick secured a significant victory for Tekmira by obtaining a US$75 million cash settlement in a multi-country patent, licensing and trade secrets dispute. Tekmira also obtained assignment of approximately 150 Alnylam patents and patent applications, and will receive milestones and royalties for Alnylam products incorporating Tekmira's technology, including a product now in clinical trials that is projected to be a US$2 billion dollar product by 2020.

Orrick’s trial-seasoned product liability lawyers successfully defend clients in major class actions, mass torts and other complex litigation in courtrooms around the country. Our work covers a broad range of companies and products, including pharmaceuticals, vaccines and biologics, medical devices, nutritional and dietary supplements, and consumer personal care products. Orrick's product liability practice was recognized among the leading practices in the United States by Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business 2012. Chambers has applauded our product liability team for its "impressive technical knowledge of scientific and medical issues, which regularly includes developing both pretrial and trial strategies around causation." Select matters include:

• The Dow Chemical Company. Orrick represented The Dow Chemical Company with respect to claims relating to silicone breast implants manufactured by Dow Corning Corporation, as well as on the overall strategy to litigate and resolve breast implant claims against the company which resulted in the successful consensual resolution of the Dow Corning bankruptcy case. Orrick continues to advise Dow Chemical regarding matters related to the Settlement Facility-Dow Corning Trust and the DCC Litigation Facility, Inc.
• Pfizer (Wyeth). Orrick served as national counsel to Wyeth in product liability litigation involving claims that childhood vaccines containing thimerosal have caused the development of “autism-spectrum disorders” in some vaccinated children. The representation culminated in the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of Wyeth that the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act expressly preempts state law claims against vaccine makers over alleged design defects. The Court’s ruling, which affirmed a judgment of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, represented a major victory for vaccine makers.

Appellate & Supreme Court

Our Appellate team has extensive experience representing pharmaceutical clients before the Supreme Court, the Federal Circuit and other appellate courts in matters involving the patentability of scientific innovations. In 2005, Practice Group Chair Josh Rosenkranz successfully represented Merck KGaA in a Supreme Court case that the National Law Journal described as “the most significant patent infringement case to confront the biotech and pharmaceutical industries in a generation.” And last term, we filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court’s Mayo v. Promethius matter on behalf of Health Law, Policy, and Ethics Scholars in support of the patent owner. Some of our Federal Circuit cases include Central Admixture Pharmacy Services (vs. Advanced Cardiac Solutions), and Novartis (v. Genetics Institute) and we are currently handling a high-stakes patent dispute involving genetically modified organisms.

Members of our team also represented Humana Inc. in a Ninth Circuit class action involving preemption under the Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003. During his time at the DOJ, Orrick Appellate Partner Mark Davies represented the views of the U.S. Patent Office and other federal agencies in numerous appellate proceedings involving the pharmaceutical industry, including Supreme Court matters (e.g., SmithKline v. Apotex and Merck KG v. Integra Lifesciences), and influential Federal Circuit decisions (e.g., Enzo v. Gen-Probe and Eli Lilly v. Washington).

Insurance

Orrick’s Insurance Group has extensive experience providing insurance counseling and obtaining insurance recoveries for many companies in the healthcare industry. Orrick’s insurance litigators have collected over US$1 billion in insurance proceeds for mass tort liabilities incurred by pharmaceutical and medical device companies. Of particular note and as mentioned above, Orrick served as counsel to Wyeth and various Wyeth entities in its mass product liability insurance matters, including coverage disputes relating to contraceptives, diet drugs, analgesics, cough and cold medications, childhood vaccines and other products.

Investigations | FCPA

Recognized by Chambers for our excellence in advising on “the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and Sarbanes-Oxley-related investigations,” we are representing Genentech in FCPA litigation and a Fortune 100 pharmaceutical company in allegations of off-label marketing. We currently represent numerous other companies and individuals in the healthcare field in connection with a wide range of investigations and enforcement actions.

Employment Law & Litigation

Orrick’s employment lawyers have successfully defended clients such as Wyeth, Genentech and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in discrimination and whistleblower matters. We also offer one of the nation’s leading trade secrets and wage-and-hour defense practices.