Life Sciences | Asia-Pacific

Baker McKenzie offers unrivalled geographical coverage with respected life sciences teams throughout Asia providing a full-service offering. The team is highly experienced across the full range of life sciences topics, offering particular strength in IP and also providing expert advice on competition, compliance and corporate transactions. The group maintains strong relationships with a range of governmental bodies, making for a comprehensive regulatory service. Baker McKenzie serves leading global healthcare, pharmaceutical and medical device companies on major cross-border deals. The inclusion of medical experts and healthcare practitioners in its teams ensures deep industry knowledge.

Bird & Bird has an enviable reputation for IP protection across the region, particularly in Hong Kong and the PRC, and is a popular choice with leading biotech companies. It offers extensive Asia-Pacific reach, with dedicated corporate, regulatory and litigation practitioners based in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore, plus an increasingly prominent life sciences practice in Australia. The firm additionally advises life sciences sector clients on employment, advertising and consumer law issues.

Hogan Lovells has a respected Asia-wide practice with an established presence in China and Japan. The team is capable of advising companies across the spectrum of life sciences issues, with expertise in the fields of commercial agreements, product liability, disputes, investigations and compliance. Hogan Lovells is known for its work on IP protection and enforcement, cross-border transactions and FDI matters and handles work for a strong roster of leading global pharmaceutical, medical device and biotech companies. The firm also boasts capable corporate M&A expertise to bolster its life sciences offering.

DLA Piper maintains a sizeable team with a full life sciences offering which includes coverage of anti-corruption, compliance, clinical trials, IP, regulatory and competition law issues. It is particularly respected for its skilled handling of patent litigation, including infringement, amendment, revocation and enforcement for major pharmaceutical companies. The firm is also noted for its experience handling high-value cross-border transactional matters and commercialisation matters. The team acts for a broad range of biotech, healthcare, pharmaceutical and vaccine companies and has impressive geographical coverage, with offices in Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand.

Jones Day fields a talented group distinguished for the scope of its expertise. It handles a range of M&A for pharmaceutical corporate and start-ups in addition to advising on licensing matters and regulatory compliance. The firm is also proficient in liaising between its offices in dealing with the protection and enforcement of IP assets, especially patents. It is additionally proficient in international arbitration relating to this sector. It leverages its global network to assist clients with international matters and often works in conjunction with US-based teams.

Thanks to its global network, Morrison Foerster is well placed to provide IP and corporate support to biotech companies and leading investors on joint ventures, funding, patent litigation and enforcement, and licensing issues in the life sciences sphere. It is also noted for core technology expertise within the sector and an impressive transactional capability across the Asia-Pacific region. The firm is particularly well versed in negotiating the licensing and development of pharmaceutical products as part of joint venture arrangements. The team regularly coordinates venture capital and corporate transactions with a network of colleagues based in offices across the USA.

Norton Rose Fulbright handles complex M&A mandates for global companies investing in Asia, particularly in the pharmaceuticals field, and offers a well-established IP practice especially on the patent protection front, as well as regulatory compliance matters throughout its Asia network. It also advises on issues relating to clinical trial agreements, compliance investigations research, licensing, research and collaboration arrangements. The firm is particularly well-placed to handle Australian or Chinese mandates – or deals spanning those jurisdictions.

Ropes & Gray has impressively broad coverage of cross-border investments, licensing, corporate and compliance matters, especially those relating to the FCPA. The firm is prominent for its core expertise in transactional and regulatory matters, particularly the Shanghai and Hong Kong offices, while the Seoul team is notable for its IP expertise. It has experience in handling cross-border licensing and commercialisation agreements and leverages its capital markets expertise to act on IPOs and other related matters for clients in this industry. The firm retains a standout client roster of multinational biotech, pharmaceutical and healthcare companies and draws upon the support of US colleagues to advise on inbound and outbound transactions.

Covington & Burling maintains a commanding position in the life sciences sector, with a particularly strong offering in regulatory issues and extensive experience in investigative matters. It also handles transactional and IP mandates. The firm maintains a highly impressive client base of international pharmaceutical companies, with strength in advising US-based corporates. It also offers additional expertise in assisting clients with licensing and cross-border joint venture matters.

Sidley Austin is considered a regulatory powerhouse across Asia, particularly in Hong Kong and Mainland China, and maintaining valuable links to the USA. The firm advises global medical device and pharmaceutical companies on high-stakes investigations, and handles an impressive array of advisory work, with a focus on pan-Asian antitrust issues. It is also adept in transactional life sciences issues, including strategic partnerships and market entry. Its expertise in cybersecurity and data privacy augments the team's capabilities in the sector.