Healthcare and Life Sciences

Overview

Digital enablement, decentralized clinical trials, and evolving drug-pricing models are among the forces driving this rapid transformation. Nixon Peabody’s Life Sciences team is ready to guide you through this complex and fast-moving environment.

Our life sciences attorneys and professionals hold doctorates in biological, chemical, and pharmacological sciences. We partner with leading research universities and large public companies while also helping start-ups scale and thrive.

We help clients structure new business models, navigate regulatory matters, as well as protect and commercialize intellectual property. As a trusted life sciences law firm, we serve as an extension of your team when it matters most. Our experience, creativity, and skill can help you turn today’s life sciences challenges into tomorrow’s opportunities.

Representative experience

• CMTx Biotech: Represented a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company in an exclusive, worldwide license agreement with Galderma Holdings to develop and commercialize incyclinide, a clinical-stage, orally administered small molecule drug candidate for the treatment of hospitalized COVID-19 patients, among other potential therapeutic indications
• Emmaus Medical, Inc.: Represented a specialty pharma company focused on rare and orphan diseases in clinical research matters; international pharmaceutical manufacturing, distribution, and compassionate-use transactions; a collaboration with Kainos Medicine, Inc. for preclinical development of IRAK4 inhibitor as a potential anti-cancer drug; and a series of research and licensing transactions with The Lundquist Institute
• Merck KGaA: Represented one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world in numerous corporate transactions and strategic investments
• Sciformix Corporation: Represented a scientific services company within the biopharmaceutical field in its sale to Covance Asia-Pacific Inc., a subsidiary of Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings
• Seattle Children’s Hospital: Represented a children’s hospital in a licensing and clinical research collaboration with Cellevolve Bio to develop and commercialize a suite of novel multiplex CARs for the treatment of pediatric CNS malignancies. The cell therapy products are produced in Seattle Children’s GMP facilities and are already in clinical trials
• Serimmune Inc.: Serve as outside counsel to an immune intelligence company developing new approaches for preventing, diagnosing, and treating a range of diseases
• UC Santa Barbara: Represented a university technology transfer office in several iterations of negotiations with one of its biotech spinoffs. This work included restructuring UC Santa Barbara’s equity and license relationship with the company to address the complexities of the company’s sublicensing partnerships with numerous pharmaceutical companies
• Large pharmaceutical company: Lead counsel in an expedited trial in Delaware Chancery Court claiming fraud against defendant (a biotech company). Following a six-day bench trial, the court found in our client’s favor and later awarded over $49 million in damages and pre-judgment interest to our client.

Recognition

• Nixon Peabody has been named a Tier 1 National firm for Health Care Law and Patent Law in the 2025 edition of Best Law Firms®.