The strength and depth of our expertise in the biotechnology sector is second to none, with our lawyers having been involved in some of the most high-profile cases in the UK and across Europe from the earliest developments in the field. In the UK, our team have played a central role in the key patent disputes in the sector, successfully representing Human Genome Sciences and Kymab in the two leading UK Supreme Court decisions in the biotech field.
We have represented Illumina in a series of complex cases involving enforcement of patents for non-invasive prenatal diagnostic testing and for nucleic acid sequencing technologies. We have acted for Biogen in litigation relating to the launch of biosimilar Humira in the European market, for example, and provided advice on European litigation strategy for a range of biosimilar products.
Other cases have involved monoclonal antibodies and their methods of production, protein purification technologies, formulation chemistry, enzyme inhibitors, enzyme replacement therapies, CRISPR, RNAi and gene therapy, sequencing and analytical methodologies, agricultural biochemistry and vaccine manufacture (from sub-unit vaccines to mRNA platform technologies).
Many of our lawyers have degrees in chemistry, biochemistry, molecular biology, immunology and biological sciences – including at doctorate level. As a result, we have unmatched technical expertise and industry knowledge, plus a genuine interest in the technologies at issue.