Life Sciences
A Law360 Life Sciences Group of the Year in 2023 & 2024
Building lasting relationships with some of the most successful biopharma, medical device, diagnostic and healthcare companies for over 50 years, our cross-disciplinary teams partner with clients through key moments in their lifecycle.
Leading life sciences and healthcare companies that are changing the world through innovation rely on Fenwick for advice on their most business-critical legal needs. Our highly specialized lawyers—many with prior careers in the life sciences industry as general counsel, scientists, bankers and regulatory employees—help clients become and remain market leaders.
Our lawyers possess deep industry and scientific knowledge, as well as an understanding of how life sciences companies are formed, financed, grown and taken public or acquired based on decades of experience in scaling with companies from inception. We use this deep domain expertise to help our clients strategize and see around the corner, to avoid and address potential issues before they arise.
Often serving as outsourced general counsel, we represent hundreds of companies and institutions at various stages of their development—from innovative biotechnology startups that are pioneering the latest breakthroughs in gene and cell therapies, small molecules and antibodies, to global medical device companies and pharmaceutical giants looking into strategic acquisitions. We also have strong ties to venture capital and investment banking firms and other strategic investors focused on the life sciences industry.
Fenwick's team was named a Life Sciences Group of the Year by Law360 in 2023 and 2024.
In recent years, we’ve handled 650+ life sciences venture financing transactions, with a cumulative value in excess of $25B, including:
- GRAIL’S $1.2B Series B financing
- Devoted Health’s $1.15B Series D financing
- Formation Bio’s $372M Series D financing
- Samsara BioCapital in Alumis’ $259M Series C financing
- Freenome’s $254M Series F, $290M Series E, $300M Series D, $270M Series C, and $160M Series B financings
- BioAge’s $170M Series D financing
- Abdera’s $142M combined Series A and B financing
- Day One Biopharmaceuticals' $130M Series C financing
- Escient Pharmaceuticals in $120M Series C financing
- Sudo Biosciences in $116M Series B financing
- Passage Bio’s $110M Series B and $115.5M Series A financings
- T-Knife Therapeutics' $110M Series B financing
- Maze Therapeutics’ $115M Series D and $190M Series C financing
- Attovia Therapeutics’ $105M Oversubscribed Series B financing
- Umoja Biopharma’s in $100M Series C financing
- Khosla Ventures in Karius’s $100M Series C financing
- OrsoBio’s $67M Series B and $60M Series A financing
In recent years, we’ve handled 650+ life sciences venture financing transactions, with a cumulative value in excess of $25B, including:
- GRAIL’S $1.2B Series B financing
- Devoted Health’s $1.15B Series D financing
- Formation Bio’s $372M Series D financing
- Samsara BioCapital in Alumis’ $259M Series C financing
- Freenome’s $254M Series F, $290M Series E, $300M Series D, $270M Series C, and $160M Series B financings
- BioAge’s $170M Series D financing
- Abdera’s $142M combined Series A and B financing
- Day One Biopharmaceuticals' $130M Series C financing
- Escient Pharmaceuticals in $120M Series C financing
- Sudo Biosciences in $116M Series B financing
- Passage Bio’s $110M Series B and $115.5M Series A financings
- T-Knife Therapeutics' $110M Series B financing
- Maze Therapeutics’ $115M Series D and $190M Series C financing
- Attovia Therapeutics’ $105M Oversubscribed Series B financing
- Umoja Biopharma’s in $100M Series C financing
- Khosla Ventures in Karius’s $100M Series C financing
- OrsoBio’s $67M Series B and $60M Series A financing
We advise venture capital, investment banking firms and other strategic investors focused on the life sciences industry including:
- AbbVie Ventures
- Agilent Technologies
- Frazier Healthcare
- Kaiser Permanente Ventures
- Khosla Ventures
- Merck
- NEA
- Samsara BioCapital
We advise venture capital, investment banking firms and other strategic investors focused on the life sciences industry including:
- AbbVie Ventures
- Agilent Technologies
- Frazier Healthcare
- Kaiser Permanente Ventures
- Khosla Ventures
- Merck
- NEA
- Samsara BioCapital
We’ve recently represented issuers and underwriters in some of the most important biotech and life sciences IPOs, including:
- BioAge Labs in $238M Upsized IPO and Concurrent Private Placement
- Maze Therapeutics in $140M Upsized IPO
- Adaptive Biotechnologies’ $345M IPO (as underwriters’ counsel)
- Passage Bio’s $248.4M IPO
- Third Harmonic Bio in its $213.1M Upsized IPO
- Nurix Therapeutics' $209M IPO
- DICE Therapeutics' $204M IPO
- Day One Biopharmaceuticals' $184M IPO
- Arcutis Biotherapeutics' $183.3M IPO
- Stoke Therapeutics’ $163M IPO
- Morphic Therapeutic’s $103.5M IPO
- Elevation Oncology's $100M IPO
- Graybug Vision’s $90M IPO
We’ve recently represented issuers and underwriters in some of the most important biotech and life sciences IPOs, including:
- BioAge Labs in $238M Upsized IPO and Concurrent Private Placement
- Maze Therapeutics in $140M Upsized IPO
- Adaptive Biotechnologies’ $345M IPO (as underwriters’ counsel)
- Passage Bio’s $248.4M IPO
- Third Harmonic Bio in its $213.1M Upsized IPO
- Nurix Therapeutics' $209M IPO
- DICE Therapeutics' $204M IPO
- Day One Biopharmaceuticals' $184M IPO
- Arcutis Biotherapeutics' $183.3M IPO
- Stoke Therapeutics’ $163M IPO
- Morphic Therapeutic’s $103.5M IPO
- Elevation Oncology's $100M IPO
- Graybug Vision’s $90M IPO
We’ve completed 250+ transactions for life sciences companies, including key industry mergers. This includes 140+ billion-dollar M&A deals.
- Shockwave Medical’s $13.1B acquisition by Johnson & Johnson
- Loxo Oncology’s $8B acquisition by Eli Lilly
- Alpine Immune Sciences’ $4.9B acquisition by Vertex Pharmaceuticals
- Cepheid’s $4B acquisition by Danaher Corporation
- Chinook Therapeutics’ $3.5B acquisition by Novartis AG
- Morphic Therapeutics’ $3.2B acquisition by Eli Lilly
- Audentes Therapeutics’ $3B acquisition by Astellas Pharma
- DICE’s $2.4B acquisition by Eli Lilly
- Aliada Therapeutics’ $1.4B acquisition by AbbVie
- Amunix’s $1.2B acquisition by Sanofi
- Dermira’s $1.1B acquisition by Eli Lilly
We’ve completed 250+ transactions for life sciences companies, including key industry mergers. This includes 140+ billion-dollar M&A deals.
- Shockwave Medical’s $13.1B acquisition by Johnson & Johnson
- Loxo Oncology’s $8B acquisition by Eli Lilly
- Alpine Immune Sciences’ $4.9B acquisition by Vertex Pharmaceuticals
- Cepheid’s $4B acquisition by Danaher Corporation
- Chinook Therapeutics’ $3.5B acquisition by Novartis AG
- Morphic Therapeutics’ $3.2B acquisition by Eli Lilly
- Audentes Therapeutics’ $3B acquisition by Astellas Pharma
- DICE’s $2.4B acquisition by Eli Lilly
- Aliada Therapeutics’ $1.4B acquisition by AbbVie
- Amunix’s $1.2B acquisition by Sanofi
- Dermira’s $1.1B acquisition by Eli Lilly
Our licensing group has advised on 400+ partnering and licensing matters, including related to antibodies, gene and cell therapies and medical devices in the last five years, including:
- DICE in is $2.3B five-year global collaboration with Sanofi to discover potential new therapeutics for up to 12 discrete targets
- Sutro Biopharma in its $1.6B collaboration with Merck to develop therapeutics for cancer and autoimmune disorders
- Loxo Oncology’s $1.55B partnership with Bayer to develop and commercialize their franchise of highly selective TRK inhibitors for patients with TRK fusion cancers
- Scribe Therapeutics in its $1.5B strategic collaboration Prevail Therapeutics, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lilly, granting Prevail exclusive rights to Scribe’s CRISPR X-Editing technologies
- Belharra Therapeutics in its $700M licensing deal with Sanofi to advance the discovery of novel small molecule therapeutics for immunological diseases.
- Second Genome’s $300M strategic mircobiome collaboration with Gilead
- Santen Pharmaceuticals’ $252M licensing and commercialization agreement with jCyte to develop and commercialize its investigational therapy outside the U.S.
- Amunix in its $40M licensing agreement with Roche to approach novel therapeutics outside oncology
- Formation Bio’s collaboration with Sanofi and OpenAI to build an AI-powered software to accelerate drug development and bring new medicines to patients more efficiently
- Day One Pharmaceuticals in its global licensing agreement with Merck KGaA for an exclusive license to develop and commercialize pimasertib
- NextRNA Therapeutics in a strategic collaboration and licensing agreement with Bayer to develop small molecule therapeutics targeting lncRNAs in oncology.
- Maze Therapeutics in its exclusive worldwide license agreement with Shionogi, a global research-driven pharmaceutical company.
- Passage Bio’s expanded gene therapy collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania
- Veracyte’s license agreement with Yale to advance the first genomic test for predicting disease progression in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF)
- Dexcom's collaboration and license agreement with Verily
Our licensing group has advised on 400+ partnering and licensing matters, including related to antibodies, gene and cell therapies and medical devices in the last five years, including:
- DICE in is $2.3B five-year global collaboration with Sanofi to discover potential new therapeutics for up to 12 discrete targets
- Sutro Biopharma in its $1.6B collaboration with Merck to develop therapeutics for cancer and autoimmune disorders
- Loxo Oncology’s $1.55B partnership with Bayer to develop and commercialize their franchise of highly selective TRK inhibitors for patients with TRK fusion cancers
- Scribe Therapeutics in its $1.5B strategic collaboration Prevail Therapeutics, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lilly, granting Prevail exclusive rights to Scribe’s CRISPR X-Editing technologies
- Belharra Therapeutics in its $700M licensing deal with Sanofi to advance the discovery of novel small molecule therapeutics for immunological diseases.
- Second Genome’s $300M strategic mircobiome collaboration with Gilead
- Santen Pharmaceuticals’ $252M licensing and commercialization agreement with jCyte to develop and commercialize its investigational therapy outside the U.S.
- Amunix in its $40M licensing agreement with Roche to approach novel therapeutics outside oncology
- Formation Bio’s collaboration with Sanofi and OpenAI to build an AI-powered software to accelerate drug development and bring new medicines to patients more efficiently
- Day One Pharmaceuticals in its global licensing agreement with Merck KGaA for an exclusive license to develop and commercialize pimasertib
- NextRNA Therapeutics in a strategic collaboration and licensing agreement with Bayer to develop small molecule therapeutics targeting lncRNAs in oncology.
- Maze Therapeutics in its exclusive worldwide license agreement with Shionogi, a global research-driven pharmaceutical company.
- Passage Bio’s expanded gene therapy collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania
- Veracyte’s license agreement with Yale to advance the first genomic test for predicting disease progression in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF)
- Dexcom's collaboration and license agreement with Verily
We’re called upon to handle some of the most critical disputes and litigation matters in the sector, including Hatch-Waxman, patent, trade secret, licensing and commercial disputes, securities, and antitrust issues, for clients such as:
- Almirall
- AnaptysBio
- Avalyn Pharma
- Loxo Oncology
- Novo Nordisk
- Novozymes
- Pharmacosmos
We’re called upon to handle some of the most critical disputes and litigation matters in the sector, including Hatch-Waxman, patent, trade secret, licensing and commercial disputes, securities, and antitrust issues, for clients such as:
- Almirall
- AnaptysBio
- Avalyn Pharma
- Loxo Oncology
- Novo Nordisk
- Novozymes
- Pharmacosmos
Our 75+ registered patent professionals, many with Ph.D.s, M.D.s and other advanced degrees, and experience in disciplines such as chemistry, molecular biology and immunology, provide strategic patent prosecution and counseling and IP due diligence for numerous life sciences companies and investors, including:
- BillionToOne
- BioAge Labs
- Element Biosciences
- Freenome
- GRAIL
- Immunocore
- Lycia Therapeutics
- Passage Bio
- Sofinnova Partners
Our 75+ registered patent professionals, many with Ph.D.s, M.D.s and other advanced degrees, and experience in disciplines such as chemistry, molecular biology and immunology, provide strategic patent prosecution and counseling and IP due diligence for numerous life sciences companies and investors, including:
- BillionToOne
- BioAge Labs
- Element Biosciences
- Freenome
- GRAIL
- Immunocore
- Lycia Therapeutics
- Passage Bio
- Sofinnova Partners
We regularly handle equity and debt offerings for a variety of clients, including:
- Achieve Life Sciences
- AnaptysBio
- Day One Pharmaceuticals
- Elevation Oncology
- GeneDx
- Nurix
- Prelude Therapeutics
- Stoke Therapeutics
- Veracyte
We regularly handle equity and debt offerings for a variety of clients, including:
- Achieve Life Sciences
- AnaptysBio
- Day One Pharmaceuticals
- Elevation Oncology
- GeneDx
- Nurix
- Prelude Therapeutics
- Stoke Therapeutics
- Veracyte
I have valued my relationship with the Fenwick life sciences team for years, through multiple companies. They are, to a person, outstanding — excellent strategic partners in all aspects of building and running a successful biotech company.
Natalie Holles
Chief Executive Officer, Third Harmonic Bio
