LMG Life Sciences | Page 170

FIRM ANALYSIS CANADA Firm Briefings Product Liability Highly recommended Blake Cassels & Graydon Gowlings Lafleur Henderson Norton Rose Recommended Gilberts Heenan Blaikie Lenczner Slaght M ajor multinational pharmaceutical, medical device, and biotechnology companies are among a long list of active participants in the Canadian life sciences market. P?zer, Eli Lilly, and Teva Pharmaceuticals are entrenched in this important territory and other organizations are making a play in the Canadian marketplace. Many lawyers are noticing an increase in cross-border work between Canada and the United States. “The industry needs to be here, and they want to be here,” says one attorney. “There are too many partnership opportunities with small and mid-market companies for big pharma and others to pass up on, and Canada is a gateway into the US market for some companies.” Though interest in the Canadian market is high, so too are concerns about the country’s patent law. Clients are concerned about the issues regarding the government’s stance on utility and sound prediction of patents. An attorney explains, “Patents have to ful?ll their promise and the patents that are attacked are in trouble of being invalid because the courts decide if its delivering on its promises, which eventually seals the patents fate.” Companies like Eli Lilly are beginning to challenge Canada’s patent policies, and such challenges could mean major changes for the Canadian life sciences industry. Belmore Neidrauer Intellectual Property: The intellectual property litigation team at Belmore Neidrauer excels in both general patent litigation and Patented Medicines Notice of Compliance (PMNOC) proceedings. The IP boutique is commended by peers for its “outstanding patent work and tremendous contentious capabilities.” Among the firm’s life sciences clients are Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, and St. Jude Medical Center. “Without a doubt one of the three or four best patent litigators in the entire country,” is how one competitor describes partner Peter Wilcox. Another attorney adds, “He has an invaluable amount of courtroom experience and has dealt with every possible issue in the life sciences IP market.” Recently, Wilcox represented GlaxoSmithKline in a proceeding where he helped dismiss patent validity attacks on the company’s diabetes medication Avandia. He also represented Pfizer and its blockbuster cholesterol drug Lipitor against generic competition in Canada. Blake Cassels & Graydon Regulatory: Blake Cassels & Graydon’s pharmaceutical and medical device regulatory practice garners recognition from peers and is described as “very smart and creative when working with marketing issues relating to their client’s products.” The firm does a lot of work providing advice on Patented Medicine Prices &Wf?Wr&?&B??$"??77VW2?2vV??2G'VrGfW'F?6??r?G'Vr???'B??BG'VrW??'B?77VW2?&??6???'2&R&V6???rf?6????B?bF?R6?F???fR66?V?6W2?&?WB?'F?W"?6RG6V?r?v????R6???VwVR6?2?2( ?2F??vV?B?B??fV?F?fR2??GF?&?W???F??276R?( ??2&VV?'W7?v?F?&??6???'2?FV??&V?F?fV??Wr7V&?V7B??6?F?G6V?~( ?2v?&???F?R&V?2&VV????'F?B???V???rV???FR?Vv??&?wV?G???F?R?&?WBf?"6?V?G2?&?GV7B?&??G??( ??76?&?F?RFVWW7B&V?6??b&?GV7G2?F?vF?'2??F?R6?V?G'??( ?7FFW2??RGF?&?W?&?WBBF?R&??W0????r?dR44?T?4U2#0??Sp???