Life Sciences, Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals, and Biotechnolog

The healthcare and life sciences sectors are as fascinating as they are complex: they address people’s most immediate and pressing needs, yet the development and investment horizon spans ten years or more. Research and technologies in these fields are highly advanced and innovative, yet operate within a tight regulatory framework characterised by concerns for public health and strict efficacy and safety requirements. Although such requirements are a universal phenomenon, regulations at national level are numerous and often inconsistent.

Advising companies and other stakeholders in healthcare and the life sciences requires comprehensive knowledge of both the industry and the regulatory and legal environment. Kellerhals Carrard stands out because our Life Sciences, Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology department comprises lawyers who specialise primarily in these areas and who have gained experience and expertise in the international pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors whilst working as executives, legal professionals, physicians, or civil servants in top-tier global pharmaceutical companies, in healthcare institutions or in government agencies.

We have one of the strongest departments for life sciences, healthcare, and pharmaceuticals and biotechnology in Switzerland, which is continuously expanding and is highly specialised, innovative and interdisciplinary. Our client base includes pharmaceutical, biotech and medical technology companies, hospitals, laboratories, manufacturers, suppliers and distributors. We advise clients of all sizes – from start-ups to large multinational corporations – on their most important and complex matters, both in Switzerland and abroad. Our firm has local roots, a regional network and, through strategic partnerships with leading law firms in Europe, North, Central and South America, and the Asia-Pacific region, a comprehensive international reach.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, we advised Moderna on legal and regulatory matters relating to the establishment of its international supply chain and preparations for the vaccine’s market launch in Switzerland, and advised Gilead on regulatory issues and reimbursement matters concerning the drug Remdesivir, approved for the treatment of COVID-19.

We have a mind for business. Our team advises you on all matters relating to healthcare and the life sciences, including:

• Regulatory advice and healthcare compliance
• Representation before regulatory authorities, investigations, litigation and arbitration proceedings
• M&A, Start-up Desk, financing (venture capital, private equity), joint ventures (JV), IPOs and capital market transactions
• Research & Development
• Contracts (supply and distribution, joint development, licensing, manufacturing)
• Pricing and reimbursement
• Digitalisation and e-health (information governance, data protection, digital/online business)
• Intellectual property (intellectual property strategies, licences, development, manufacturing)
• Merger control and competition law (price differentiation, distribution, market entry of generics)
• Partnerships and collaboration with hospitals