FINANCE & TRANSACTIONAL FIRM ANALYSIS
Firm Briefings
resentation of Boston Biomedical in its sale to Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma for up to $2.63 billion in total, which included $200 million upfront, and additional amounts in milestone and sales milestone payments. Morgan Lewis & Bockius “No firm knows the business and industry as well as they do,” says one client about the corporate group at Morgan Lewis & Bockius. Another client adds, “Depending on them to get our deals completed was the best decision of my career.” Since the start of 2012, mergers and acquisitions have been the strength of Morgan Lewis’s corporate practice. The full-service capabilities of the firm offer clients a lot of support in dealing with any issues that may arise over the course of a transaction. One attorney states, “Their sheer size and the amount of professionals they put towards a case or a deal brings security to their clients— if an issue arises in another area of the law, they can handle it quickly.” In 2013, the firm made a substantial impact by representing more than a handful of pharmaceutical companies in acquisitions. They represented Mylan Pharmaceuticals during their cash acquisition of Agila Specialties Private, a manufacturer of generic injectable drugs. Additionally, Steve Navarro, co-head of the firm’s M&A practice, led a team of attorneys that advised oncology-focused Marshall Edwards in its acquisition of the isoflavone portfolio of Novogen. “Steve is able to use his experience in other industries and use it towards life sciences, and that has made him one of the better attorneys in the space over the last year,” admires one rival. The firm recently added key attorneys to their life sciences corporate team like partner Mark Stein, who one colleague believes “gives them a great presence in Boston, which is necessary in this industry.” Prior to joining the firm, Stein was the partner-in-charge of the Corporate Department in McDermott Will & Emery’s Boston office. Morrison & Foerster The corporate team at Morrison & Foerster is spread out across the country’s key financial locations, sporting offices in both New York and Silicon Valley. “Simply dominant on both coasts, especially out in California,” states one contemporary. Another rival attorney believes, “They have commercial IP capabilities unlike anyone else, and their clients love them for it.” Much like their IP practice, the firm has had a great deal of success in the biotech field, assisting pharmaceutical companies that are creating biotechnology spin-off organizations. Partner Michael O’Donnell is considered by a colleague as one of the “leading attorneys in the field of biotech spinouts.” Among the companies that he has helped establish through these spin-off agreements are Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Tularik, and X-Ceptor. Partner Stephen Thau is regarded by peers for his, “unmatchable work ethic and knowledge of the biotech space.” He represented Catalyst Bioscience, a leading developer of next generation biopharmaceuticals in its exclusive worldwide research and license agreement with leading biologic therapeut ic developer Centocor Research & Development.
92
The firm’s talent is not limited to the biotech space. MoFo advised Mentor Corporation, a leader and supplier of medical products for the aesthetic market, when it was acquired by Johnson & Johnson for over $1 billion. The firm receives glowing reviews from its client for its work in life sciences corporate matters. “The best group of lawyers I have ever worked with,” raves one client. “Their attitude plus their extensive knowledge of the industry and their sound predictions for us created a work package that couldn’t have been topped.” Reed Smith Partner Diane Frenier has helped Reed Smith grow its Life Sciences Transactions & Regulatory group with her high-volume of work in the industry. “There are very few attorneys who can negotiate deals the way she can,” explains one practitioner. Another colleague believes Frenier is “the best corporate attorney that the industry needs to properly recognize for her work.” She represented Dr. Reddy’s Labs as it entered into a contractual partnership with industry heavyweight Merck-Serono to co-develop a portfolio of biosimilar compounds for oncology applications. “They work together so well with the firms we already use and have been nothing but a pleasure,” says one client about the corporate team at Reed Smith. “We are very happy with the work they have done for us and we expect to use them on deals in the future.” Ropes & Gray “A tremendous corporate group from top to bottom and a firm that really knows how to use its resources,” is how one competitor describes the financial and transactional team at Ropes & Gray. An area where the firm is especially active is working with both private and public investors interested in funding life sciences companies. The firm worked with underwriters Credit Suisse, Bank of America, and Leerink Swann in the $56 million follow-on common stock offering for Orexigen Therapeutics. One colleague states, “I have only seen a handful of attorneys in the industry as great as Marc Rubenstein over there at Ropes.” Rubenstein is co-chair of the life sciences group at the firm and has a diverse client list including Biogen Idec, a drug manufacturer for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. He has represented them in a number of licensing agreements and other transactions, like their acquisition of assets from biopharmaceutical company Nerimmune for an upfront payment of $32.5 million and up to $395 million in contingent payments. Michael Sexton is another partner at Ropes & Gray that has received a large amount of praise from the marketplace. “A very creative attorney with respect to ironing out deals and acquisitions,” believes one colleague. He represented Pharmaceutica NV (one of the Janssen Pharmaceutical companies of Johnson & Johnson) in its $357 million sale to Forest Laboratories for of their North American patents for Bystolic, a marketed drug product for hypertension. Clients agree with the market’s assessment of the firm’s corporate team. “It is amazing what they are capable of doing as they handled all of our financial issues with ease,” explains one in-house counsel. “From our financing to our public offerings to our eventual sale, their team was with us every step of the way.”
LMG LIFE SCIENCES 2013