Cooley Expands Life Sciences Practice in London

London – May 15, 2023 – Simon Amies has joined Cooley as a partner in the firm’s London life sciences practice. Amies arrives from Covington & Burling, where he was a corporate partner advising on private and public M&A, initial public offerings and other capital raises, as well as venture and growth capital transactions, with a focus on the life sciences industry.

“Simon has a wealth of experience guiding clients on corporate transactions through all stages of their development, which fits very well with our dominant life sciences practice,” said Justin Stock, managing partner of Cooley’s London office. “The firm is deeply committed to the life sciences industry, and we look forward to adding Simon’s experience to the strength and breadth of our representation of life sciences companies and investors in the UK and Europe.”

“Simon is a leading corporate life sciences lawyer in London and brings deep experience and strong relationships across the industry,” said Christian Plaza, co-chair of Cooley’s global life sciences practice. “We are delighted that he has joined us.”

Amies brings more than 25 years of experience advising on a broad range of complex corporate transactions covering the UK and the European Union. He advises companies at all stages of their life cycle, in addition to working with investors and investment banks. He also counsels clients in the technology and sustainable technology sectors.

“I have watched the growth of Cooley in London and globally with great admiration,” Amies said. “The firm has a very exciting cross-border platform focused on advising high-growth and emerging innovators and their investors in life sciences, technology and other cutting-edge sectors. Cooley is well known for their collaborative culture, and I am excited to become part of the team.”

Amies’ arrival at Cooley follows Frances Stocks Allen joining the firm’s London life sciences practice in 2022 as a partnering and licensing partner, bringing extensive UK and US experience across segments ranging from therapeutics to biotech, medtech and digital health. In 2021, Elisabeth Anne Wright joined Cooley in Brussels to head the firm’s European regulatory life sciences practice.

Cooley’s global life sciences capabilities are unmatched. The firm represents nearly 2,500 public and private life sciences clients worldwide, including almost 50% of the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index. Clients include innovative biotech and specialty pharmaceutical companies at the forefront of new technologies, including cell and gene therapies, artificial intelligence-led drug discovery and new vaccine technologies. Cooley was recently named Law360’s Life Sciences Practice Group of the Year and has been the #1 venture capital law firm for biotech and pharma venture financings for the last decade (PitchBook). Cooley also is the #1 firm for issuer-side life sciences IPOs (Deal Point Data) – a title held since 2000 – and was named the Licensing & Collaboration Firm of the Year by LMG Life Sciences in 2022.

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