Latham Recognized with Five Notable Accolades at the 2019 LMG Life Sciences Awards

Latham & Watkins was recognized at the 2019 LMG Life Sciences Awards with five accolades for outstanding work and representation of clients across the industry. The annual awards program distinguishes the “firms, individuals and companies behind the most innovative and challenging life sciences work of the past year, as well as those driving the international market.”

This year the firm was honored in the following categories:

• US Life Cycle Firm of the Year- Latham was selected “…based on the breadth of their life sciences practice” and ability to “…handle pertinent legal issues facing a product throughout its life cycle” according to LMG Life Sciences.
• M&A Firm of the Year- Latham was honored for its unparalleled M&A work that is changing the landscape of the life sciences industry.
• Non-IP Litigation Impact Case of the Year- HSU et al v. Puma Biotechnology et al: Latham achieved a company-saving result for breast-cancer treatment developer Puma Biotechnology, marking the first federal securities class action to reach a verdict in nearly a decade. Plaintiff sought damages exceeding US$1.2 billion against Puma which, at the time of trial, had a market cap of US$1 billion. The jury delivered a unanimous verdict in Puma’s favor on three of the four alleged misstatements, and awarded less than 5% of claimed damages (estimated to be US$9 million or less after a lengthy claims process). Puma’s near-complete win preserved the company’s ability to deliver life-saving cancer treatments to patients who would otherwise be out of options under the standard of care treatment. The award winning case was led by partners Andrew Clubok, Michele Johnson, Colleen Smith and Sarah Tomkowiak. 
• Licensing & Collaboration Attorney of the Year- Silicon Valley partner and the Vice Chair of the firm’s Healthcare & Life Sciences Practice, Judith Hasko, was recognized for developing innovative strategic licensing structures that have helped finance some of the industry’s biggest breakthroughs, including her recent representation of Daiichi Sankyo in its multi-billion dollar collaboration with AstraZeneca.
• M&A Attorney of the Year- Orange County and New York partner Charles Ruck earned the award of M&A Attorney of the Year for his focus on market-changing deals, including his recent representation of Piper Jaffray, financial advisor to K2M, in the acquisition of K2M by Stryker. 

LMG Life Sciences is the definitive guide to leading North American law firms and lawyers specialized in the life sciences industry in four categories: Finance and Transactional; Regulatory; Intellectual Property and Non-IP Litigation and Enforcement. The LMG Life Sciences Awards are based on a weighted system of peer, client, and firm feedback recognizing firms, individuals, and companies behind the most innovative and challenging life sciences work from the past year, as well as those driving the market.