On January 19, 2021, the FDA issued guidance for licensed and investigational cellular and gene therapy (CGT) manufacturers during the COVID-19 pandemic. This new guidance supplements the recommendations provided in FDA’s June 2020 guidance regarding manufacturing controls to prevent contamination in drugs, risk assessment of SARS-CoV-2 as it relates to…
What is an accelerator? An accelerator is an entity that provides a fixed-term, cohort-based program designed to accelerate growth and support disruptive and innovative early-stage businesses. They can be generalist or specialist and are located all around the world. Who are they? Probably the most well-known accelerator is Y Combinator…
University tech transfer offices (TTOs) and venture capital firms (VCs) work closely together to advance certain technologies and discoveries from the lab to the market. However, because there are different motivations and incentives for TTOs and VCs while negotiating licensing agreements, tensions often arise during these negotiations. At a meeting…
On January 12, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published its Action Plan for further development of the Agency’s framework for regulatory oversight of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) based Software as a Medical Device (SaMD). The Action Plan identifies several opportunities for SaMD developers to…
In recent posts, we reviewed “down-rounds” and hedging COVID-19 pandemic risks in M&A. This post complements them and focuses on early-stage life sciences companies and their potential investors. While the customary development timelines for life sciences companies may seem less prone to risks associated with COVID-19, the pandemic still resulted…
As follow-up to our October post on pre-approval and pre-licensure inspections impacting U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) drug and biologic approvals, this blog post discusses FDA’s recently announced temporary policy set forth in its December 2020 guidance on review timelines for company responses to a Complete Response letter (CRL)…
On December 27, 2020, the President signed into law the “Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021” (the “Act”). Included within this omnibus legislation are several provisions (in Division BB, Title III, Subtitle C) that affect the regulation of generic drugs and biosimilar medicines by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Read…
During the COVID-19 pandemic, M&A counsel and their respective life science clients have attempted to navigate the new normal of an unprecedented situation.[1] In addition to impacts on due diligence, material adverse effects clauses, termination provisions, contingent payment mechanics and representations, warranties and covenants, potential acquirers have also had to…
