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McDermott Will & Emery LLP

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McDermott Will & Emery LLP advises on IP, regulatory, transactional, and litigation matters relating to life sciences at a national and international level. Its client base includes internationally recognized life sciences companies in healthcare, life sciences, pharma, and biotech. The team advises clients on matters across all phases of product development, with vast experience acting as regulatory counsel in legislative compliance and strategies. The practice stands out for its strong IP experience, including patent building, maintenance, enforcement, and prosecution. It currently represents Alnylam Pharmaceuticals in infringement lawsuits against Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech regarding their COVID-19 vaccines, with Sarah Chapin Columbia being one of the lead partners. Silicon Valley’s Judy Mohr also serves as IP counsel to QuidelOrtho Corporation regarding corporate transactions and its patent estate. The practice is co-headed by Douglas Carsten and James Ravitz, who focus on intellectual property and FDA regulations, respectively. Kristian Werling, transactions specialist, and Byron Kalogerou, who founded the firm’s life sciences practice, are the firm’s key corporate matters experts. First chair litigator Michael Sitzman joined the practice in November 2024 from DLA Piper LLP (US).
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Client satisfaction

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘Depth of experience and sound advice make them a great team to work with.’

  • ‘Doug Carsten is great to have on your side. He explains complicated legal doctrines and provides honest evaluations of strengths and weaknesses of our legal position so we can make decisions with confidence.’

  • ‘The firm assembles and provides a complete IP team structured for the type of litigation. For example, one of our recent litigations involved a medical device and therefore required team members with both pharmaceutical and mechanical training.’

  • 'We wish Douglas Carsten to handle important IP litigations for us. When handling one of our cases, he does not focus only on the legal aspects but is also aware of the relevant business and financial aspects of the matter. Moreover, his actions in the courtroom are second to none. He possesses a tremendous memory and can recount all relevant documents and testimony. This allows him to answer all questions from the bench quickly and convincingly. I have found that he gains the respect of judges as the cases proceed.’

Key clients

  • Alnylam Pharmaceuticals
  • Generate BioMedicines
  • Heron Therapeutics
  • Inhibikase Therapeutics
  • Medtronic
  • Merck KGaA
  • Novartis
  • QuidelOrtho Corporation
  • Salix Pharmeceuticals
  • Turn Biotechnologies, Inc.

Work highlights

  • Defended Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd in a billion-dollar royalty dispute with Cipla Ltd. over its blockbuster product, XIFAXAN. Cipla alleged that XIFAXAN sales were covered by its licensed patents on amorphous rifaximin, demanding over USD 1 billion in royalties.
  • Advised Alnylam Pharmaceuticals on patent infringement lawsuits against Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech, asserting that their COVID-19 vaccines utilize Alnylam’s cationic biodegradable lipid technology.
  • Represented United Therapeutics in its patent and trade secret litigation against Liquidia Technologies, a late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company.

Lawyers

Practice head

Douglas Carsten; James Ravitz

Other key lawyers

Sarah Chapin Columbia; Judy Mohr; Kristian Werling; Byron Kalougerou; Michael Sitzman