Animal Health

Representing Animal Health Innovators and the Investors That Support Them

Wilson Sonsini represents companies across the animal health sector, including innovative entrepreneurs, start-ups, and other market entrants, as well as late-stage companies and other established entities. We also represent VC firms and other financial institutions engaged in financing promising animal health ventures and helping companies grow.

On the company side, our experience includes working with clients focused on a wide range of animal health-related areas, from domesticated companion animal care to veterinary facilities. Our animal health team also draws from the firm’s related agtech and foodtech experience, given the intertwined relationship between commercial agriculture, livestock, and the food and nutrition sectors. As the animal health industry continues to grow, so does the firm’s base of clients and the range of areas in which they operate.

Our animal health sector clients focus on important and developing fields, such as:

• Companion animal care and well-being
• Comparative oncology
• DNA testing
• Gene editing and associated applied technologies 
• Veterinary pharmaceutical applications
• Veterinary practice management applications
• Wildlife conservation and restoration 

Integrated, Multidisciplinary Teams

Just as Wilson Sonsini has always done in the past when innovation and disruptive technologies opened the door to new, fast-growing industries, our firm has formed a multidisciplinary, collaborative team that works closely with health-care-driven scientists, entrepreneurs, and other market entrants who have launched companies focused on developing, commercializing, and marketing animal health products and services. Our team consists of experienced and engaged attorneys from core areas that are key to growing and successful animal health entities, from corporate and IP to regulatory/FDA and technology transactions. Without question, Wilson Sonsini has the experience, insight, and connections to assist animal health companies and investors. At a glance, our most relevant practice areas and services include:

Intellectual Property

• Patent portfolio management
• Preparation and prosecution of patent applications
• Freedom-to-operate analysis
• IP due diligence
• Licensing and regulatory submissions
• IP strategy and development
• Trademarks, advertising, and promotions

Corporate

• Corporate governance
• Venture capital financings
• Creative corporate structures
• Capital markets
• Mergers and acquisitions

Regulatory

• Compliance counseling on laws, regulations, and industry standards
• Assessing product development and regulatory approval options
• Crisis management (responding to audits and other FDA inquiries)
• Advertising and promotional strategy and review

Technology Transactions

• Commercial transactions, including collaborations, joint ventures, strategic alliances, and partnering arrangements
• Manufacturing, supply, and distribution agreements

Why Wilson Sonsini Is the Right Firm for Animal Health and Veterinary Medicine Clients

There are several reasons why we are the right law firm for animal health and veterinary medicine clients. Wilson Sonsini offers comparative advantages to clients across the sector, such as:

• In addition to having a comprehensive and recognized corporate practice, we are a premier legal services provider to venture-funded technology start-ups with strong ties to VC firms and financing institutions, as well as accelerators and incubators.
• Many of Wilson Sonsini’s 180-plus patent attorneys and patent agents have Ph.D.s and other advanced degrees in veterinary science, biology, chemistry, biomedical sciences, and other relevant fields. Additionally, more than 130 Wilson Sonsini attorneys and patent agents have been admitted to practice before the USPTO, and our team includes several former USPTO executives and USPTO patent examiners.
• We have a talented regulatory/FDA team that includes seasoned veterans accustomed to advising clients throughout the FDA application and approval process; counseling companies on product labeling, advertising, and marketing matters; and advising investors on due diligence-related issues.
• Our West Coast, East Coast, Mountain West, and Texas offices are in or near strategic U.S. animal health markets.

For decades, dating back to the birth of the technology revolution—when Silicon Valley earned its name as base camp for the fearless and daring—Wilson Sonsini has been at the center of innovation. But like our clients, we did not stay idle. Since our inception, we have partnered with companies making novel discoveries and developing the newest technologies. Wilson Sonsini maintains a position of strength that enables it to work effectively, intuitively, and seamlessly with companies and investors across the animal health industry.