Deals & Corporate Governance
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September 26, 2025
Semler Scientific, Bard To Pay $37M To End FCA Claims
The Department of Justice announced on Friday that two companies have agreed to pay nearly $37 million to resolve claims that they knowingly recommended healthcare providers submit erroneous Medicare claims for tests for diagnosing artery disease.
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September 26, 2025
CareDx Asks 3rd Circ. To Rethink $45M False Ad Case
Medical testing company CareDx has asked the Third Circuit for a panel rehearing or a rehearing before the entire circuit to consider reinstating a $45 million jury award in a false advertisement case over genetic testing technology against rival Natera.
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September 26, 2025
Taxation With Representation: De Brauw, Hengeler Mueller
In this week's Taxation With Representation, power grid operator TenneT Holding sells a stake in its German transmission business to institutional investors, Pfizer Inc. acquires biotechnology company Metsera Inc., and Dutch brewer Heineken NV buys most of Costa Rica's FIFCO beverage and retail operations.
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September 24, 2025
UnitedHealth Fights Investor Suit Over DOJ's Merger Probe
UnitedHealth and its executives have asked a Minnesota federal judge to toss a proposed securities class action accusing it of, among many things, not disclosing that the U.S. Department of Justice had reopened an antitrust investigation into the health insurer, saying the complaint consists of unsupported "scattershot allegations."
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September 24, 2025
Omnicare Can Tap $25M Initial DIP, Stage Set For Gov't Feud
Omnicare LLC, a CVS Health subsidiary that provides pharmacy services for long-term care facilities, won a Texas bankruptcy court approval on Wednesday to use $25 million of interim debtor-in-possession financing amid a looming dispute over a $949 million judgment owed to the U.S. government over allegedly illegal billing.
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September 24, 2025
Committee Says $100M DIP Loan Doesn't Benefit Modivcare
The official committee of unsecured creditors in the Chapter 11 case of medical transport company Modivcare objected to final approval of the debtor's $100 million bankruptcy loan late Tuesday, telling a Texas court the package includes "numerous infirmities" that need to be addressed.
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September 23, 2025
Axsome Settles Investors' Drug Approval Suit For $7.8M
Biopharmaceutical company Axsome Therapeutics Inc. and its shareholders have asked a New York federal court to approve a $7.75 million settlement to resolve investors' claims that Axsome hid issues related to gaining regulatory approval for its migraine drug.
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September 23, 2025
How Attys Are Riding The Mass. Biotech 'Roller Coaster'
The first half of 2025 saw the Massachusetts biotech industry post bleak numbers, including a dip in venture capital funding and merger activity, leaving attorneys looking for creative ways to help companies with fewer public and private dollars.
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September 23, 2025
Dentists Denied Class Certification In $13B Delta Dental Suit
An Illinois federal court refused to certify a class of dentists in multidistrict litigation targeting an alleged $13 billion antitrust scheme by Delta Dental and its members, finding that dental insurance markets are local, not national in scope.
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September 23, 2025
Foley & Lardner Adds Healthcare Deals Pro From Holland & Knight
Foley & Lardner LLP has continued its expansion in Nashville with the addition of another former Holland & Knight LLP attorney, expanding its healthcare and life sciences and manufacturing sector capabilities.
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September 23, 2025
HealthTrackRx Names 2nd Chief Legal Officer In 2025
Texas-based infectious disease laboratory HealthTrackRx has added a new chief legal officer following the departure of the top attorney it hired earlier this year.
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September 22, 2025
Wachtell, Paul Weiss Advise On Pfizer's $7.3B Obesity Path
Pfizer Inc. will acquire Metsera Inc. for $4.9 billion in cash, as the U.S. pharmaceutical giant bets on the biotech firm's experimental treatments for obesity and cardiometabolic diseases, the companies said Monday.
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September 19, 2025
IBS Drug Buyers Win Class Cert. In Takeda Antitrust Case
A Massachusetts federal judge on Friday certified buyer classes in litigation alleging Takeda Pharmaceutical broke antitrust law by cutting a pay-for-delay deal with Par Pharmaceuticals to keep a generic version of Takeda's anti-constipation drug Amitiza off the market for several years.
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September 18, 2025
Group Of US Investors To Buy TikTok, Plus More Rumors
A consortium of big-name buyers including Oracle, Silver Lake and Andreessen Horowitz are rumored to be taking a majority stake in TikTok after a long search to find the app a U.S. owner; Paramount Skydance is reportedly ready to make an offer for Warner Bros. Discovery; and private equity shop CVC is close to inking a $1.5 billion deal to acquire web-hosting provider Namecheap. Here, Law360 breaks down these and other deal rumors from the past week.
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September 17, 2025
GAO Sustains Protest Of $48.5M Medicare Contract
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services unreasonably evaluated whether a Wisconsin company was eligible to compete for a $48.5 million task order, the U.S. Government Accountability Office said, sustaining a protest of the agency's award decision.
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September 17, 2025
Yale Health System Settles $435M Hospital Sale Suit
Yale New Haven Health Services Corp., Connecticut's largest hospital system, has reached a settlement in principle with bankrupt Prospect Medical Holdings Inc. that would resolve a $435 million contract dispute over the sale of several hospitals in the state.
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September 16, 2025
BrainStorm Can't Shed Investors' ALS Treatment Trial Claims
Biopharmaceutical company BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics Inc. must face a proposed investor class alleging it misrepresented feedback from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regarding clinical trials for an ALS product candidate that failed to get approval, though a Manhattan federal judge has tossed the suit's insider trading allegations and certain fraud claims.
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September 16, 2025
Healthcare Deals This Week: Novartis, LB, Lila Sciences
A handful of sizable deals made headlines this past week, including a rare public offering from the pharmaceutical industry and a potential multibillion-dollar bet on the "molecular glue" space.
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September 16, 2025
FTC Chair Pledges 'Action' Against Late Merger Fixes
Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson vowed Tuesday to take unspecified "action" against tactics by merging companies to propose fixes only after antitrust enforcers bring a transaction challenge, a strategy he called "bad for the system."
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September 16, 2025
VarmX Partners With Biotech CSL In Deal Worth Up To $2.2B
European life sciences venture capital firm EQT Life Sciences on Tuesday announced that its portfolio company VarmX, a Netherlands-based biotech, has entered into an exclusive option agreement to be bought by global biotech CSL in a deal worth up to $2.2 billion.
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September 15, 2025
Investor Says $16M Ouraring Fight Shouldn't Go To Finland
An early investor in the Oura health and fitness tracker is fighting Ouraring Inc.'s attempt to send his $16 million dispute to arbitration in Finland, saying there is no underlying agreement to arbitrate and his lawsuit should stay in California federal court.
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September 15, 2025
Novartis, Monte Rosa Ink Up To $5.7B 'Molecular Glue' Deal
Novartis is placing a potential $5.7 billion bet on Monte Rosa Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotech company, to develop new treatments for immune-related diseases, Monte Rosa said on Monday.
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September 12, 2025
Jury Awards Mallinckrodt $9.5M In Nitric Oxide Patent Suit
A Delaware federal jury awarded Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals almost $9.5 million on Friday, finding that French industrial gas company Airgas Healthcare infringed patents covering its inhaled nitric oxide treatment.
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September 11, 2025
9th Circ. Says News Article Doesn't Doom Biotronik FCA Suit
The Ninth Circuit revived a False Claims Act suit alleging that Biotronik orchestrated an illicit compensation scheme to boost the implantation of its cardiac devices in patients at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, saying the whistleblower's complaint presents new information that is not barred by fraud allegations disclosed in an earlier news article.
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September 11, 2025
Insulin Makers Ask 2nd Circ. To Rethink Collusion Claims
Sanofi-Aventis US, Eli Lilly & Co., Novo Nordisk Inc. and AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP are asking for a rehearing after a Second Circuit panel revived a proposed class action from safety-net hospitals and clinics accusing the companies of increasing insulin drug costs by agreeing to limit participation in a discount program.
Expert Analysis
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5 Models For Structuring Health Provider-Payor Partnerships
With recent data showing that the U.S. continues to spend more and get less for healthcare services compared to other industrialized nations, providers and payors should consider a variety of partnership structures that can help achieve the so-called triple aim of improving the health of individuals and populations while reducing per capita costs, says John Howard at Thompson Coburn.
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What FTC's 'Killer Acquisition' Theory Means For Pharma Cos.
The Federal Trade Commission's recent lawsuit to block Sanofi's acquisition of a pharmaceutical treatment developed by Maze Therapeutics builds on previous enforcement actions and could indicate the agency's growing willingness to use its so-called killer acquisition theory against perceived attempts to eliminate nascent competition, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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Lessons For D&O Policyholders From Pharma Co. Ruling
A California federal court's recent decision in AmTrust v. 180 Life Sciences, requiring insurers to advance defense costs for a potentially covered claim, provides a valuable road map for directors and officers insurance policyholders, rebutting the common presumption that a D&O insurer's duty to advance costs is more limited than under other policies, say attorneys at Pasich.
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ESG Around The World: Gulf Cooperation Council
The Gulf Cooperation Council is in the early stages of ESG policy implementation, but recent commitments by both states and corporations — including increases in sustainable finance transactions, environmental commitments, female representation on boards and human rights enforcement — show continuing progress toward broader ESG goals, say attorneys at Cleary.
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Oregon Law Would Compromise Management Service Orgs
If passed, a proposed Oregon law would materially limit physician corporate practice of medicine structures, causing significant disruption to the provision of medicine and hindering professional corporations' ability to focus on the clinical components of their practice, say Christina Bergeron and William Shefelman at Ropes & Gray.
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The Latest Antitrust Areas For In-House Counsel To Watch
The U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission's increasingly aggressive approach to antitrust enforcement means in-house counsel should closely monitor five key compliance issues, say attorneys at Squire Patton.
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Navigating New Regulations In Healthcare And Other M&A
While notice requirements recently enacted in several states are focused on the healthcare industry for now, this trend could extend to other industries as these requirements are designed to allow regulators to be a step ahead and learn more about a transaction long before it occurs, say Kathleen Premo and Ashley Creech at Epstein Becker.
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New CMS Rule Will Change Nursing Facility Disclosures
A new rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services significantly expands disclosure requirements for nursing facilities backed by private equity companies or real estate investment trusts, likely foreshadowing increased oversight that could include more targeted audits, say Janice Davis and Christopher Ronne at Morgan Lewis.
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Healthcare Collabs Can Alleviate Labor, Antitrust Challenges
Two major challenges facing hospitals and health systems include labor shortages and increased antitrust scrutiny at both federal and state levels, but collaborative efforts may help with addressing these difficulties, says Sumaya Noush at McDermott.
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How Biotech Cos. Can Utilize Synthetic Royalty Financing
Synthetic royalty transactions have been on the rise as a funding structure for biotechnology companies, but questions have arisen surrounding how such transactions work, and structuring them correctly requires a nuanced understanding, say Todd Trattner and Ryan Murr at Gibson Dunn.
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How Biotech Deals May Help Competition, Despite FTC View
The Federal Trade Commission's complaint against Sanofi's proposed partnership with Maze Therapeutics highlights increasing skepticism of so-called killer acquisitions, but a closer look reveals potentially legitimate reasons behind why entities might decide to delay or abandon the development of acquired products, say consultants at Analysis Group.
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Notes Of Interest From 5th Circ. Illumina-Grail Merger Ruling
Attorneys at Simpson Thacher consider the Fifth Circuit's recent decision upholding the Federal Trade Commission's challenge of the Illumina merger with Grail, its much-needed boost to the Biden administration's antitrust agenda, and some silver linings the decision offers to merging parties.
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A Potential Proactive Tool For Public-Private Joint Ventures
In the current environment of heightened antitrust enforcement, the National Cooperative Research and Production Act seems tailor-made for the collaborative work among competitors encouraged by the Biden administration's infrastructure and green energy funding legislation, say Jeetander Dulani and Susan Ebner at Stinson.