Specialty Pharmacy & Pharmaceuticals

With 20 attorneys, we have one of the largest Specialty Pharmacy & Pharmaceuticals Practices in the country. Led by industry veterans who have experience as both in-house general counsel and outside counsel for national pharmacy, pharma service and pharmacy benefit management companies, our multi-disciplinary team serves as operational and transactional counsel to a majority of the nation’s largest specialty pharmacies.

We are regularly engaged in significant transactions in the specialty pharmacy industry. We also provide practical business advice and legal guidance to help with trade and distribution matters facing clients within the pharmaceutical industry. Day-to-day, we assist clients in navigating and complying with the contractual, regulatory and operational requirements unique to the pharmaceutical industry, and we lead clients in audits and compliance reviews.

We counsel a variety of clients including:

  • Large and small specialty and home infusion pharmacies
  • Large and small specialty drug manufacturers
  • Private equity firms
  • Specialty Drug Distributors
  • Group purchasing organizations (GPOs)
  • Reimbursement hubs, prior authorization programs, financial assistance programs, and other pharma services companies
  • 340B covered entities

Areas of Focus

  • Compliance & Investigations
    • Addressing enforcement and compliance issues as well as responding to legal and regulatory violations.
    • Advising on healthcare liability and risk management issues.
    • Advising on issues associated with implementing new reimbursement, prior authorization support, financial assistance and other pharma services and programs for limited distribution specialty drugs.
  • Contracting, Regulatory & Operational
    • Guiding parties in moving new products from manufacturing to market, such as handling the business needs of the manufacturer, as well as negotiating agreements with various entities through the supply chain.
    • Negotiating, designing and contracting distribution networks.
    • Advising on multiple patient assistance, co-pay waiver and coupon programs.
    • Counseling manufacturers and pharmacies in moving drugs from the manufacturer to the pharmacy, physician or hospital, including structuring compliant GPO arrangements and negotiating contracts for administrative service fees and rebates.
    • Assisting in designing, negotiating and contracting protocol management programs including integration of pharmaceutical products into protocol programs.
    • Managing complex, licensure issues including multi-pharmacy change of ownership (CHOW) projects in all 50 states.
    • Supporting the contracting of preferred exclusive specialty pharmacy provider networks with payors, including national and regional health plans and pharmacy benefit managers.
  • Disputes
    • Providing dispute resolution strategies and support for contracting and reimbursement issues.
    • Enforcing non-competes and other business protection strategies.
  • Mergers, Acquisitions & Dispositions
    • Supporting the evaluation, bid process and diligence involved in specialty pharmacy mergers and acquisitions by:
      • Identifying and analyzing risks associated with specialty pharmacy companies involved in transactions.
      • Analyzing regulatory implications of mergers and acquisitions and addressing issues related to dispositions.
    • Leading negotiations for mergers, tender offers, and stock and asset purchases and divestitures (both tax-free and taxable).
    • Structuring spinoffs and recapitalizations, management buyouts and other going-private transactions.
  • We represented PANTHERx, a specialty pharmacy specializing in orphan drugs and rare diseases, in its sale to a consortium of...
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    Client Type: Private Company
  • We represented Hawaii Specialty Pharmacy and California Specialty Pharmacy, two specialty pharmacy companies, in their sale to Assured Health Partners,...
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  • Representation of Nuvem, a healthcare software technology and consulting services company, in their acquisition of Apovia, a pharmacy services management company. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

    We represented Nuvem, a healthcare software technology and consulting services company, in their acquisition of Apovia, a pharmacy services management...
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    Client Type: Private Company
  • Representation of RxSense, a healthcare pharmacy benefits administration technology company, in their acquisition of ParamountRx, a prescription medicine discount plan company. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

    We represented RxSense, a healthcare pharmacy benefits administration technology company, in their acquisition of ParamountRx, a prescription medicine discount plan...
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    Client Type: Private Company
  • Representation of Consonance Capital, a private equity manager focused exclusively on the healthcare industry, in their recapitalization of Orsini Pharmaceutical Services, a leading nationwide specialty pharmaceutical provider. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

    We represented Consonance Capital, a private equity manager focused exclusively on the healthcare industry, in their recapitalization of Orsini Pharmaceutical...
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  • Representation of Parthenon Capital, a growth-oriented private equity firm, as healthcare regulatory counsel in its investment in RxSense, a high-growth healthcare technology company that utilizes its proprietary technology platform to provide innovative prescription savings solutions to consumers and pharmacy benefits administration and analytics to enterprise customers

    We served as healthcare regulatory counsel to Parthenon Capital, a growth-oriented private equity firm, in its investment in RxSense, a...
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    Client Type: Private Company
  • Representation of Linden Capital Partners, a Chicago-based healthcare private equity firm, as healthcare regulatory counsel in its acquisition of UroGPO from Nautic Partners. UroGPO is a urology-specific Group Purchasing Organization and provider of educational programs for providers.

    We served as healthcare regulatory counsel to Linden Capital Partners, a Chicago-based healthcare private equity firm, in its acquisition of...
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    Client Type: Private Company
  • Representation of OptionOne, a specialty pharmacy providing home and alternate-site infusion therapies through a comprehensive clinical approach to patient care, in its sale to Amerita, Inc., a specialty infusion company focused on providing complex pharmaceutical products and clinical services to patients outside of the hospital. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

    We represented OptionOne, a specialty pharmacy providing home and alternate-site infusion therapies through a comprehensive clinical approach to patient care,...
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    Client Type: Private Company
  • Representation of J. Knipper and Company, Inc. – one of the largest suppliers of end-to-end pharmaceutical samples management services and a Court Square portfolio company – and its affiliates, including KnippeRx, in its acquisition of Eagle Pharmacy – a Florida-based full-service, direct-to-patient (DTP) pharmacy. This strategic transaction for KnippeRx will expand the company’s pharmacy programs, scale and automation capabilities.

    We represented J. Knipper and Company, Inc. - one of the largest suppliers of end-to-end pharmaceutical samples management services and...
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    Client Type: Private Company
  • Representation of Linden Capital Partners, as lead healthcare regulatory counsel, in its investment in Vital Care, Inc., a pharmacy franchisor of home infusion services. Linden Capital Partners is a Chicago-based private equity firm focused exclusively on the healthcare industry

    We represented Linden Capital Partners, as lead healthcare regulatory counsel, in its investment in Vital Care, Inc., a pharmacy franchisor...
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    Client Type: Private Company
Philip F. Berg
Senior Healthcare Attorney
Meredith Edwards Collins
Member
Jeffrey I. Davis
Member
Jeanne Marie Evans
Associate
Mallory Farrar
Associate
Mary Beth Fortugno
Member
Anna M. Grizzle
Member
Michael R. Hess
Member
J. James Jenkins, Jr.
Member
William T. Mathias
Member
Amy Sanders Morgan
Associate
Christine M. Morse
Member
Whitney Mosey
Associate
Elaine C. Naughton
Associate
Frank M. Pellegrino
Member
Brianna R. Powell
Associate
Laurence B. Russell
Counsel
Brian L. Sims
Member
Danielle M. Sloane
Member
Jamie Gordon Steakley
Associate
Julia Tamulis
Member
Ryan D. Thomas
Member
Elizabeth S. Warren
Member
Shannon Wiley
Member

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