Healthcare, life sciences & chemicals

The competitive dynamics in the healthcare and life sciences industries are changing fast.

As the pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, chemicals, medical devices and healthcare services sectors converge, strategic investors and multinational corporations are looking for innovative approaches to meet industry challenges, among others:

• Preparing for the wave of patent expiries over the near to medium term;
• Controlling R&D costs for targeted medicines and diagnostics while responding to demands to broaden the product portfolio;
• Advancing corporate objectives such as mergers and acquisitions, new product launches, divestitures and partnerships while looking for new efficiencies in the management of standard business processes; and
• Ensuring access to and complying with changing regulatory requirements in mature and emerging markets, particularly in the Middle East, China and India.

Established in the early 1990s, the Global Healthcare and Life Sciences sector team at Clifford Chance consists of more than 80 dedicated lawyers in 30 key centres in Belgium, China, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Spain, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and the United States.

As part of the firm's global matrix, members of the team specialise both in subsectors and areas of law in order to offer clients the highest quality advice and solutions wherever they operate.

Over the past two decades the team has built a long track record of helping industry leaders find solutions to complex, cross-border legal challenges. From its 'centre of excellence' based in Düsseldorf, the Global Health Care and Life Sciences team brings together market knowledge and specialist expertise from across the Clifford Chance network, allowing clients to benefit from the firm's unique ability to transfer best-practices from one jurisdiction to another whether it comes to executing critical business decisions, capitalizing on new opportunities or mitigating risks.

In addition to legal expertise, Clifford Chance industry specialists have in-depth knowledge of the pharmaceutical, medical devices, chemicals and healthcare services sectors through their close links to trade associations as well as involvement in relevant committees making recommendations on legislation and industry codes of conduct.

Clifford Chance lawyers speak regularly at industry conferences and publish regularly in legal and trade journals including:

“Handbuch des Medizinprodukterechts” (“Guide for Medical devices law”), C.H. Beck, Munich (April 2003) “Handbuch des Pharmarechts" (“Guide for Pharmaceutical Law”), C.H. Beck (Autumn 2008)

Having cultivated an expertise in the Healthcare and Life Sciences industry over nearly two decades and worked with many of the world's leading and soon to be leading pharmaceutical, biotechnology, chemicals, medical device and health care services companies, we understand the importance of anticipating regulatory and contractual issues in the context of corporate investment, finance, strategy and operations.