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Lorna Tanner is a partner in the Intellectual Property Practice Group in the firm’s Silicon Valley and San Francisco offices and is the former Leader of the firm’s Life Sciences Team.

Gathering topics and reviewing the articles for our annual Top-of-Mind publication is always one of my favorite yearly endeavors, allowing me to talk to clients, colleagues and industry experts about the overall state of the life sciences industry. The timing of this publication usually coincides with the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, providing a key opportunity to vet our articles. The breath and scope of comments, concerns, predictions have been remarkable.Continue Reading 2025 Top-of-Mind Issues for Life Sciences Companies

As we reflect on 2023 and make predictions for 2024, it is remarkable the number of significant events occurring this past year that will be impactful for the activities of the life sciences industry going forward. Although there was no single moment like the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, there are numerous distinct events that will loom large in 2024 and beyond.Continue Reading 2024 Top-of-Mind Issues for Life Sciences Companies

On Wednesday, May 7, 2021, the United States officially endorsed waiving intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines. While the United States has taken the opposite position in recent months, the administration asserts that its departure is guided, at least in part, by the goal “to get as many safe and effective vaccines to as many people as fast as possible.”[1] That goal, however, is unlikely to be affected by such a waiver in the short term due to uncertainty in World Trade Organization (“WTO”) politics, ongoing shortages on raw materials and equipment, and lag-time in retrofitting potential manufacturers.
Continue Reading Waiver Of Intellectual Property Protections For COVID-19 Vaccine Unlikely To Have Meaningful Impact In Short Term