11 Fish & Richardson Principals Named 2017 "Life Sciences Stars" by LMG Life Sciences

Fish & Richardson announced today that 11 of its principals were named "Life Sciences Stars" for 2017 in the sixth annual edition of LMG Life Sciences. The Fish Life Sciences Stars represent the full range of the firm's best in class life sciences practice. These awards recognize the outstanding accomplishments of Fish attorneys for clients in pharmaceutical and life sciences sectors, including success in cutting-edge inter partes cases, exceptional expertise in patent counseling, strategy, and prosecution, and a winning record trying the most complex pharmaceutical and life sciences patent cases.

The Fish principals named Life Sciences Stars include:

• Patent Group - Gwilym Attwell, Dr. Janis Fraser, Dr. Todd Garcia, and Dr. Teresa Lavoie
• Post-Grant Group - Dorothy Whelan
• IP Litigation Group - Juanita Brooks, Elizabeth Flanagan, W. Chad Shear, Jonathan Singer, and Martina Tyreus Hufnal
• Regulatory Group - Terry Mahn

According to LMG Life Sciences, Fish's "life sciences attorneys offer expertise and a full range of services in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and biopharmaceutical industries. Dorothy Whelan, who co-chairs the post-grant practice group at Fish, was heralded for her "news-making" work leading "an inter partes review for Coherus BioSciences which ultimately invalidated three patents in the HUMIRA patent family, adding a significant dent to the much-challenged blockbuster portfolio. These are the first-ever invalidated patents for AbbVie's biologic, which was the highest-selling drug in 2016."

Gwilym Attwell and Dr. Teresa Lavoie were called "standouts…in the firm's patent prosecution and counseling department." "Lavoie has a PhD in chemistry and uses her expertise to counsel startups and emerging companies in the biotechnology and biopharmaceutical arenas on their life sciences portfolios. Attwell offers services in prosecution, opinions, and due diligences, as well as a special proficiency in inter partes review and post-grant review."

The firm's "high-profile patent litigations" included the "notable representation of Gilead by Juanita Brooks and Jonathan Singer in the much-publicized Gilead v Merck last year, related to the client's high-selling Hepatitis C drugs Sovaldi and Harvoni. Merck claimed Gilead’s disease-curing drugs infringed upon its patents and sought damages totaling about $2 billion. Remarkably, Merck was eventually barred from collecting (any) damages under the unclean hands doctrine because of a malfeasance involving false testimony by a Merck witness."

Martina Tyreus Hufnal was highlighted for her "win in a Hatch-Waxman suit for pharmaceutical clients Iroko and iCeutica who sued Lupin for attempting to bring a generic to market for branded pain reliever Zorvolex. All claims were dismissed a week before trial."

Last month, LMG Life Sciences named Fish its 2017 General Patent Litigation Firm of the Year, Inter Partes Review Firm of the Year, and Intellectual Property Boutique Firm of the Year. Fish also handled four of the five named "Patent Impact Cases of the Year," including three major wins for clients GlaxoSmithKline, Gilead, and Coherus.

The LMG Life Sciences annual awards recognize the leading attorneys, law firms, and in-house counsel teams that have played a significant role in the life sciences industry over the last 12 months. Winners are chosen based on nearly 1,000 interviews and surveys completed by partners active in the market, interviews with clients and leading lawyers, firm-wide surveys, attorney surveys, and a review of public information.