Tag Archives: EME Life Sciences

Reed Smith hosts July 16 life sciences virtual roundtable on “Deal making in a post-COVID world”

While the life sciences sector has proven more resilient than most, COVID-19 has undoubtedly caused a dramatic slowdown in deal activity globally across industries. Please join Reed Smith and a panel of strategic, private equity, and venture capital leading deal makers for an engaging discussion on the impact COVID-19 has had on deal making in … Continue Reading

Join Us: Life Sciences Health Industry Roundtable on “Identifying and Mitigating Risk in a Changing Global Economy”

In-house counsel at pharmaceutical, medical device, and health companies are invited to join their peers and leading Reed Smith life sciences lawyers for a roundtable discussion on how to identify and mitigate risk. The event will be held on 5 March in Reed Smith’s London office. A networking breakfast will be provided at 8:30 a.m., … Continue Reading

Little-Known Trap in U.K. Intellectual Property Litigation Could Cost Successful Plaintiffs: What Life Sciences Companies Need to Know

Did you know the U.K. patents system penalizes a failure to record a patent transaction at the Patent Office by depriving a successful plaintiff of its entitlement to recover its full legal costs in any subsequent infringement litigation on that patent? It’s a little-known trap for the unwary, and the subject of our London partner … Continue Reading

Lessons from the Competition Appeal Tribunal Hearings in Merricks v. MasterCard and Gibson v. Pride Mobility Scooters

The UK held the first two hearings under its new opt-out class action procedure. The precise rules governing UK class actions will be developed over time from the general guidelines in the statute. There are significant similarities between the U.S. and UK rules on a number of topics related to collective proceedings, and barristers and … Continue Reading

Unified Patent Court Could be Operational as Early as December 2017

As we discussed in a prior post, the introduction of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) will be a significant change to the European patent landscape and will have a profound effect on how life sciences companies set about their patent strategies – from filing through exploitation to enforcement. Consequently, life sciences companies should take note … Continue Reading

European Patent Litigation for Life Sciences Companies: a Silver Lining to the Brexit Cloud?

The introduction of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) is undoubtedly the most significant change to the European patent landscape since the European Patent Convention of 1973. It will have a profound effect on how life sciences companies set about their patent strategies – from filing through exploitation to enforcement. Leaving aside the inevitable delays to … Continue Reading

European Patent Office to Make Pan-European Revocation Proceedings Faster, More Efficient as of July 1

European Patent Office oppositions are a very powerful way of litigating newly granted patents. In reality these are pan-European revocation proceedings, with profound strategic significance for life sciences companies – this is the only way through which all national parts of a European patent can be revoked simultaneously in one set of proceedings. Unsurprisingly, EPO … Continue Reading

French Bribery Act Would Be Anti-Corruption Revolution

We’ve covered the French Sunshine Act, which requires French pharmaceutical companies to disclose their links to healthcare providers, extensively over the past few years and most recently here. France on the whole, however, has been lagging behind many other countries when it comes to anti-corruption laws. It looks like that’s about to change in ways … Continue Reading

Toward Class Actions for Health-Related Claims in France

The French government issued a bill on March 17 for the extension of class actions to health-related claims in France. Starting today, March 31, the text will be discussed at the French National Assembly, particularly to address the issue of compensation for personal injury within the framework of the proposed class action.… Continue Reading

French Sunshine Act’s Scope Expands with Recent French Supreme Administrative Court Decision

Reed Smith’s Global Regulatory Enforcement Law Blog features a post on a recent decision by the French Supreme Administrative Court (Conseil d’Etat) that expands the scope of the French Sunshine Act. “French Supreme Administrative Court Decision Significantly Broadens the Scope of the French Sunshine Act,” written by Reed Smith attorneys Daniel Kadar and Caroline Gouraud, … Continue Reading

In-House Lawyers in France Remain without Legal Privilege

French Minister for Economic Affairs Emmanuel Macron recently introduced a bill proposing the recognition of legal privilege for in-house lawyers in France, which does not currently exist. However, this recognition was rejected by the Special Commission of the French National Assembly before the bill was passed by the lower chamber - a decision consistent with the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Justice's 2010 ruling in Akzo.… Continue Reading

Public Consultation Examines Potential Confidentiality Issues with New European Clinical Trial Regulations

Since January 21, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has been holding a public consultation on the new European Clinical Trial Regulations (CTRs), which are intended to streamline the application process for clinical trials and increase the availability of information and results. However, the CTRs have met with some concerns regarding commercial and patient confidentiality. As … Continue Reading

Law360 Article – U.S. and French Sunshine Laws Present Compliance Challenges for Manufacturers

In “From Sea to Shining Sea: French and US Sunshine Laws,” (Law360 subscription required), Reed Smith attorneys Elizabeth Carder-Thompson and Daniel Kadar discuss recent legislation from both sides of the Atlantic designed to increase the transparency of relationships between drug and medical device manufacturers on one hand and physicians and teaching hospitals on the other. … Continue Reading

UK Government Addresses Lack of Regulation and Legislation in Cosmetics Industry

In April 2013, an independent review of the regulation of cosmetic interventions in the UK was published, highlighting an insufficient amount of regulation in this industry by the UK government, due in part to the rapid growth of cosmetic procedures in the United Kingdom. Cases such as unauthorized (and potentially defective) materials being used in … Continue Reading

A Comparison of the U.S. and French Sunshine Reporting Requirements

This past year both the U.S. and France enacted substantial new reporting and disclosure requirements under their respective Sunshine Acts, which were designed to increase the transparency of the financial relationships between manufacturers and health care professionals and to allow patients to make more informed decisions regarding their health treatments. The U.S. and French Sunshine … Continue Reading

EU Research Group Condemns EU Regulation for Restricting Growth in Life Sciences Sector; NHS Advocates Selling Confidential Patient Data For Secondary Purposes

Reed Smith’s Global Regulatory Enforcement Law blog features two posts of interest to those in the life sciences industry, both written by Reed Smith partner Cynthia O’Donoghue. “EU Research Group Condemns EU Regulation for Restricting Growth in Life Sciences Sector” discusses the opposition of a lobbying group, led by the Wellcome Trust, to amendments to … Continue Reading

New UK Pharmaceutical Packaging Warnings: Lucy in the Sky with Directions for Marketing Authorisation Holders

The UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency has directed Marketing Authorisation Holders (MAHs) for medicines containing specified controlled drugs to update their Summary of Product Characteristics, patient information leaflets, and product labeling. These new warnings are designed to make it easier for the government to enforce a new law prohibiting driving under the influence … Continue Reading

Launch of the New French State Portal Allows for Electronic Information Disclosure by Health Care Companies

Reed Smith’s Global Regulatory Enforcement Law blog features a post on the recent launch of the new state portal in France. "The implementation of the French transparency regulation: first good news?," written by Reed Smith partner Daniel Kadar, discusses how the portal will allow health care companies to more easily disclose transparency information to the French government … Continue Reading

Planes, Trains and Over-the-Counter Pills

This post was written by John Wilkinson, Nicola Maguire and Adam Lewington. In November 2013, the Human Medicines (Amendment) (No.2) Regulations 2013 (the “Amendment”) came into effect, amending the Human Medicines Regulations 2012, which set out a “comprehensive regime for the authorisation of medicinal products for human use; for the manufacture, import, distribution, sale and … Continue Reading

France: All Bodies Hosting Personal Medical Data Must Apply for Official Accreditation or Work With An Officially Accredited Data Host

This post was written by Daniel Kadar. As a champion for the protection of personally identifiable information and with broad definitions for the concepts of personal and medical data, France has established a very specific set of policies requiring that all bodies hosting medical data must apply for official accreditation or work with an accredited … Continue Reading

French Ministry of Health Publishes Application Decree for “French Sunshine Act”; Requires Disclosure of Agreements With and Payments to Health Care Practitioners Dating Back to January 1, 2012

Reed Smith’s Global Regulatory Enforcement Law blog features a post on the recent publication of the application decree to the “French Sunshine Act” by the French Ministry of Health.  “A Brave New World? The ‘French Sunshine Act’ imposes online disclosure of contracts with HCPs, as well as of payments of ‘advantages’ to HCPs, dating back … Continue Reading
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