Covington is the preeminent competition law advisor to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device firms around the world, from small start-ups to the largest global life sciences companies. Our team is co-chaired by two former heads of the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and was recently ranked among the top such practices in the world by Global Competition Review.
Our lawyers in the US, Europe, and Asia regularly advise life sciences clients in connection with complex litigation and transactional matters and provide counseling on licensing and distribution agreements, R&D joint ventures, and other collaborations. Drawing on the firm’s unparalleled expertise in the life sciences industry our multi-disciplinary and multi-jurisdictional approach enables us quickly to appreciate our clients’ regulatory, intellectual property and commercial goals, identify potential issues, and develop creative and novel approaches to help them achieve their goals while managing their antitrust risk.
Antitrust Litigation
Covington’s antitrust litigation team has successfully defended cartel prosecutions, nationwide class actions, consolidated MDL proceedings, competitor disputes, short-fuse preliminary injunction proceedings, and appeals up through the United States Supreme Court. Our European competition litigation team has substantial experience in the full spectrum of cases before the EU Courts, including the Court of Justice and the General Court of the EU, as well as at the Member State level. We also have a strong track record of finding creative ways to resolve cases early, taking into account all of the client’s legal, financial, and business objectives.
Patent Litigation Settlements & Hatch-Waxman
We have extensive experience counseling clients regarding settlements of Hatch-Waxman patent litigation and with handling government and private plaintiff challenges to such agreements. To succeed in defending these complex cases, a pharmaceutical company needs a team that has antitrust litigation and class action trial experience as well as a sophisticated understanding of patent litigation and FDA regulatory law. Covington excels in all of these areas. We are also well-positioned to advise clients on how to structure settlements and manage their patent portfolios in a post-Actavis world.
Transactions & Licensing
We regularly help our life sciences clients evaluate and manage the antitrust issues involved in their transactions—from the formation of joint ventures to the negotiation and clearance of complex mergers and acquisitions. Our team, located strategically in our US, European, and Asian offices, includes senior lawyers with extensive high-level government enforcement experience. In these positions, our lawyers have had the opportunity to direct key merger investigations and enforcement decisions and to help shape the enforcement policies that exist today. This broad and deep experience enables us to provide clients the practical and timely guidance that they expect, so that they may plan their transactions with confidence, obtain expeditious competition law review and clearance, and consummate their deals in a timely manner.
We also have significant experience helping our life sciences clients navigate the complex competition law issues that can arise in the context of intellectual property licensing agreements, as well as R&D and other collaborations.
Compliance Training
We are frequently called upon to provide training and advice for life sciences clients seeking to maintain or develop strong compliance programs and avoid cartel concerns. In this regard, we:
- assist in developing and implementing in-person, web-cast, and online antitrust training programs for client executives and employees;
- create practical guidance documents for employees to maximize competition law compliance; and
- conduct antitrust audits and internal investigations tailored to our clients’ particular needs.
Representative Matters
- In re K-Dur Antitrust Litigation. Representing Schering-Plough (now Merck) in multi-district class action litigation challenging so-called reverse payment settlements of pharmaceutical patent litigation. Obtained denial of certification of indirect purchaser class, after which indirect purchasers voluntarily dismissed their case. The team previously defeated the FTC at trial in an action on the same facts, and will now have the opportunity to resolve the direct purchaser portion of the case under a recent Supreme Court decision.
- In re Nexium Antitrust Litigation. Representing AstraZeneca in consolidated class action litigation alleging violations of the antitrust laws with respect to settlements of Hatch-Waxman patent litigation.
- Representing Zoetis (formerly Alpharma, owned by Pfizer) and Xellia Pharmaceuticals in connection with the European Commission’s challenge of litigation settlement agreements with H. Lundbeck A/S, one of the first cases in Europe regarding so-called “reverse payment” patent settlements.
- Representation of Merck in its $41 billion merger with Schering-Plough.
- Representation of King Pharmaceuticals in its $3.6 billion acquisition by Pfizer.
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