Life Sciences

Our firm works with life sciences companies on various aspects of their businesses, including:

• Formation and financing of early stage ventures

• Start-up technology transfer

• Structuring and negotiating licenses, research and development collaborations, and other technology transactions

• Corporate partnerships and collaboration

• Employment, immigration, and benefit strategies

• Planning and developing intellectual property portfolios

• Structuring initial public offerings and follow-on securities offerings

• Protecting and defending intellectual property rights

• Siting, permitting, developing, and financing new research and manufacturing facilities

Intellectual Property

From inception and early stage research through development, marketing, and life-cycle management, Honigman helps clients achieve and maintain commercially significant patent protection. Our lawyers are experienced in the growth and management of complex U.S. and international patent portfolios pertaining to pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device technologies at all stages of development. Our lawyers are also skilled in counseling clients regarding patent infringement and validity, and should the need arise, our experienced intellectual property litigators can help enforce patent rights or defend against allegations of infringement. Many of our patent attorneys and patent agents have advanced degrees in molecular biology, chemistry, or biophysics.

Our Life Sciences patent lawyers apply decades of combined field experience as engineers and scientists to our legal representation. Our lawyers are experienced in preparing and prosecuting patent applications relating to complex pharmaceutical compounds, nucleic acids, proteins, peptides, antibodies, transgene technology, transgenic animals and plants, nucleic acid expression systems, and gene therapy.

Corporate and Securities

The corporate lawyers on our Life Sciences team have extensive experience in evaluating, structuring, and negotiating complex business transactions, including:

• Technology transfers from universities, medical centers, and private industry

• Venture capital financings

• Strategic research, development, and commercialization arrangements between large pharmaceutical companies, biotech companies, and major research universities

• Out-licensing and in-licensing agreements

• Clinical trial agreements

• Private placement

• Initial and follow-on public offerings

• Corporate spin-offs

• Mergers and acquisitions

Our Life Sciences industry group collaborates with the firm’s health regulatory team to structure relationships between our clients and healthcare providers and patients to comply with the intricacies of anti-kickback laws, self-referral laws, patient privacy and protection laws, and the evolving world of electronic health information technology. We have represented growing life sciences companies in securing some of the largest venture capital financings in the country from leading domestic and international investors.

We assist life sciences clients to grow and to enter new business lines through corporate partnerships and strategic licensing arrangements. Honigman’s active Securities and Corporate Governance practice is widely known and respected and has served as counsel to a variety of issuers and regional and national securities underwriting firms in connection with initial and other public offerings of securities. We have significant experience in advising public companies and their directors, officers, and affiliates regarding corporate governance matters and their obligations under the federal securities laws.

Technology, Licensing, Development, and Distribution

Honigman guides clients through the negotiation, execution, and enforcement of agreements needed to bring products to market, develop new technology, or access or transfer existing technology. We assist our clients with licenses and assignments pertaining to all forms of intellectual property, including patents, trade secrets, know-how, and trademarks. Our lawyers also assist clients in the formation of numerous joint ventures and strategic alliances and in organizing and restructuring national and international distribution networks.

Immigration

Our Business Immigration attorneys have a proven track record in providing highly-effective and strategic legal services to some of the world’s largest life sciences companies as well as start-ups and university spinoffs.  Our attorneys recognize the importance of hiring and retaining top global research talent to ensure the success of our clients’ operations.  We assist our clients in navigating the complexities of the U.S. immigration system and identify and obtain responsive, creative and cost-effective immigration solutions that meet their business needs.  We have extensive experience and have achieved very successful outcomes in obtaining O-1 and Immigrant Alien of Extraordinary Ability status, as well as Immigrant Outstanding Researcher status.  Whether we are guiding our clients through the H-1B process,  Immigrant preference petitions or the PERM Labor Certification process, our attorneys partner with our clients to determine the best strategic path to achieve their short- and long-term immigration goals.  In addition, we have significant experience counseling life sciences companies on changes to immigration law and policy and developing strategies to ensure the long-term stability of their immigration programs.  We also provide counsel to clients on the immigration aspects of corporate reorganizations, mergers and acquisitions.