Biotechnology

Why Cooley

Cooley works with biotechnology companies through all stages of growth. Our experience stretches across public offerings, mergers and acquisitions, private financings, licensing, regulatory and patent counseling. Clients who partner with us get the advantage of extensive experience, true teamwork and an entrepreneurial culture that help build businesses and transform breakthrough ideas into successful companies. 

Representative Matters

• Advised the special committee of the board of directors of Crown Bioscience International, a global drug discovery and development services, company on its merger agreement with JSR Corporation, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. The merger is expected to close before the end of second quarter of 2018
• Advised Bavarian Nordic on its acquisition of two commercial vaccines from GlaxoSmithKline for up to €955 Million
• Advised Cell Design Labs on its sale to Gilead Sciences. The transaction is valued at up to $567 million and includes Gilead’s acquisition of all outstanding shares of Cell Design Labs, including the shares of Cell Design Labs held by Kite Pharma (a subsidiary of Gilead)
• Advised OnCore Biopharma in its merger with Tekmira Pharmaceuticals to create a new leading global company focused on developing a curative regimen for hepatitis B, or HBV, patients by combining multiple therapeutic approaches
• Advised Immunocore on its $320 million (GBP £205 million) Series A financing round, the largest ever for a European biotech
• Secured the Ninth Circuit affirmance of the dismissal with prejudice of a securities class action filed against biopharmaceutical company Medivation and certain of its current and former officers and directors
• Successfully convinced lead plaintiff to voluntarily dismiss the consolidated securities class action filed against pharmaceutical company Regado Biosciences and its officers and directors
• Secured the Ninth Circuit affirmance of the dismissal of a securities class action filed against Rigel Pharmaceuticals, the first decision from the Ninth Circuit to address the implication of the landmark Supreme Court decision in Matrixx Initiatives, Inc. v. Siracusano in the drug development and approval process
• Served as trial counsel in a bet-the-company arbitration win for Gilead Sciences that gave our client exclusive rights to the breakthrough hepatitis C virus drug Sovaldi – a drug that had one of the most successful drug launches of all time
• Tried a major biotech-big pharma collaboration dispute involving Bayer AG and Onyx Pharmaceuticals that led to Bayer AG opting to settle half-way through trial, which included a $160 million lump sum payment and related commercial transactions in favor of our client
• Obtained a complete victory for Patheon, a defendant in a 3-year long $380 million antitrust case brought by Procaps in Miami federal court. Procaps sued Patheon in December 2012 seeking to block Patheon's then proposed $255 million acquisition of Banner Pharmacaps, alleging that the acquisition would convert an existing collaboration between Patheon and Procaps into an illegal market division agreement. Two weeks before a lengthy trial was to begin, the court granted Patheon summary judgment in full, ending the case
• Obtained a motion to dismiss for Mutual Pharmaceuticals in a $150 million antitrust and unfair competition case in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania brought by another drug developer. The decision was affirmed by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals