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Life Sciences & Healthcare

With over 480 international specialist lawyers across CMS and the support of the Lifesciences Asia-Pacific Network (LAN), we understand the scientific and commercial as well as the legal imperatives affecting your lifesciences and healthcare business. We work with and have established long-term relationships with the top 100 lifesciences and healthcare companies in the areas of pharmaceuticals, medical devices, biotechnology, agriculture and food.

Our experts, many of whom have worked in-house in your sector, have developed a shared capability in the areas of pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical devices and diagnostics. As members and partners of major industry associations such as the ABPI, ABHI, BIVDA, PAGB, EFPIA and EUCOMED we help shape the legal frameworks impacting the lifesciences and healthcare sectors. 

We regularly advise our clients on their day-to-day operational needs such as, patent enforcement, commercial and clinical trial agreements, protection of privacy and trade secrets, e-health, support with advertisement and promotion of medicine, public sector procurement, pricing and reimbursement as well as regulatory advice. 

Equally, when you need specialist advice in the area of lifesciences and healthcare for strategic agreements, planning a corporate transaction or embarking on litigation (whether product liability or otherwise), we have a team that is well versed in the industry issues to help you.

"Very hands-on knowledge and ability to provide very practical examples to the business. Feedback received was really what we needed, being very hands on, easy to understand feedback to specific practical questions."

Feedback from a client about the department - Legal 500, 2022

"CMS' cross-practice collaboration and multilingual capabilities make it a popular choice for a varied roster of pharmaceutical heavyweights, industry associations and hospital groups. The team is especially renowned for its public procurement capabilities, working with some of the largest Europe-wide governing bodies on high-profile, cross-border projects. Joint practice heads Bruno Fonteyn and Virginie Dor are noted for their expertise in health sector regulation and EU-wide health and social care procurement mandates, respectively."

Legal 500, 2022

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30/01/2024
What’s in a name? Updated EMA guideline on naming medicinal products processed...
The updated EMA Guideline on the acceptability of names for human medicinal products processed through the centralised procedure was adopted by CHMP in December 2023 and came into effect on 1 January...
09/01/2024
Belgian Competition Authority confirms jurisdiction over hospital mergers
Until recently, the hospital sector has escaped the attention of the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA).When the Belgian legislator, through the law of 28 February 2019 required hospitals to create loc­al-re­gion­al...
08/01/2024
Adapting to the new EU Data Act: implications for medical devices and other...
In recent years, the European Commission developed a European data strategy, which aims to create a single European market in which data can circulate freely. As the European Commission has emphasized...
03/01/2024
CMS Life Sciences & Healthcare Global Brochure
With big deals fuelling record levels of M&A activity, a steady stream of innovative and disruptive technologies, new and increasingly complex regulatory challenges and a thriving start-up community...
20/12/2023
Revision of the European rules applying to de minimis aid
The Commission Regulation (EU) No 1407/2013 of 18 December 2013 on the application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to de minimis aid (“de min­imis Reg­u­la­tion”)...
08/12/2023
COP28: Global Health Under the Spotlight
Health took centre stage at the first ever ‘Health Day’ at COP28 on 3 December. The program focused the attention of world leaders on the profound public health-related issues stemming from climate...
08/11/2023
CMS Life Sciences Vital Signs, Winter 2023
2023 has seen some significant legal developments impacting the life sciences industry, and as we look ahead to 2024, there are several important developments which we would like to keep our clients informed...
08/11/2023
Cannabis law and legislation in Belgium
Medical use In principle, the cultivation, import, sale and possession of (medicinal or recreational) cannabis is not allowed under Belgian law. An exception is made for the cultivation of hemp with a...
28/09/2023
EP Case Law in Brief: Erroneous Disclosures
“Mistakes in a document do not in themselves constitute prior art such as to prevent the grant of a patent.”So begins section I.C. 4.9 of the Case Law of the Boards of Appeal. This statement, and...
15/08/2023
AI in healthcare inventions – technical or not technical?
SummaryRecent European Patent Office (EPO) Board of Appeal case T 1910/20 sits among a number of decisions regarding the discussion of what constitutes technical character in the field of healthcare...
28/06/2023
UK announces £21m AI roll-out across NHS
IntroductionOn 23 June 2023, the UK government announced a £21 million fund aimed at accelerating the deployment of Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) across the National Health Service (“NHS”)...
12/06/2023
CMS updates Global Expert Guide to Digital health apps and telemedicine
Digitisation is advancing steadily. Its pioneering innovations challenge all parties involved.One of the most important aspects in this area is the huge potential that lies in the digitisation of healthcare.In...