Life Sciences

A Legacy of Life Sciences Leadership

The firm has a 60-plus year history of representing trailblazers in the life sciences industry—from the earliest innovators to those that are shaping the future of healthcare today. We work closely with entrepreneurs, scientists, and investors who trust Wilson Sonsini’s strategic advice to establish and realize their companies’ business objectives, which includes protecting and leveraging their most valuable IP assets. We represent life sciences companies through the entire business life cycle, from formation through IPO and strategic partnerships. We often act as outside general counsel with support from our cross-functional, global life sciences team to provide coordinated and comprehensive counsel to clients.

Our clients include thousands of innovation-focused life sciences companies, research institutions, start-up accelerators and incubators, and the venture capital funds and banks that finance the industry. A central pillar of our life sciences practice is our longstanding representation of medical device and biopharmaceutical companies, entrepreneurs, and investors, which dates back to these industries’ inception.

Wilson Sonsini’s life sciences practice is anchored by a diverse team of attorneys, patent agents, and scientific advisors, more than 100 of whom hold Ph.D.s and have significant industry experience. The team also includes former in-house legal counsel for major life sciences companies, an internationally recognized leader in the field of technology transfer, and former senior officials at U.S. federal agencies, such as the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB).

Key Points About Our Practice

On behalf of our life sciences clients, Wilson Sonsini:

• Acted as trusted advisors to 1,400+ private and 150+ publicly traded life sciences companies
• Completed hundreds of public offerings and M&A transactions with a combined value of more than $91 billion between 2019-2023
• Raised 1,300+ venture rounds totaling over $14 billion
• Counseled hundreds of life sciences companies on structuring strategic commercial collaborations

Our Nexus to Life Sciences Innovation

For decades, Wilson Sonsini has advised and worked closely with life sciences industry icons who were responsible novel and ground-breaking inventions, such as CRISPR gene editing, the DNA chip, cancer therapies, nanotechnology, cell-free genetic tests, medical devices, stem cell technologies, and next-generation DNA sequencing. As the industry has expanded, so has the scope of Wilson Sonsini's work with life sciences innovators, institutions, and investors. In fact, our team has represented clients in the following life sciences fields:

Agricultural biotechnology Adoptive cell therapy Animal health Antibody therapeutics Biochemistry Bioinformatics software Biomedical sciences Biotechnology Catalysis and oil processing CAR-T cell therapies  CRISPR gene editing Cell therapy Chemical engineering Digital health Diagnostics Genetic engineering Gene therapy Genetics Genomic editing

Genomics Immuno-oncology     Medical devices Molecular biology, RNA-based medicines Nanotechnology Organic and medicinal chemistry Personalized medicine Peptides Pharmaceuticals Proteomics Solid state and inorganic chemistry Stem cell biology Small molecule therapeutics Synthetic biology TechBio Therapeutics Tissue engineering Virology

Our Inter-Disciplinary Team and Comprehensive Scope of Practice

Our work with life sciences companies to help them develop and implement their business strategies encompasses:

• Patents and Innovation Strategy – We help founders of growing life sciences companies formulate actionable business strategies focused on building and protecting robust and valuable patent portfolios, while also helping established companies protect groundbreaking discoveries.
• Life Sciences Commercial and Technology Transactions – We represent clients in complex commercial and other technology and licensing transactions, including bet-the-company complex commercial collaborations and their foundational intellectual property licenses.
• Corporate – We address the broad corporate needs of our life sciences clients, including helping them raise private and public capital and advising them on complicated M&A structures. The firm has represented companies in more venture financing transactions than any other U.S. law firm.
• FDA Regulatory, Healthcare, and Consumer Products – We advise life sciences clients on regulatory strategies for their products and services, including representing them in regulatory matters before the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and other federal and state consumer protection agencies.
• Life Sciences Business Advisory Practice – We offer business advisory capabilities that complement our firm’s legal representation. Our business advisory practice helps emerging and established life sciences companies execute business strategies, including crafting and enhancing their business plans; raising capital; recruiting and retaining their teams; and structuring, negotiating, and managing strategic transactions.
• Intellectual Property Litigation – We represent life sciences companies in a broad range of IP disputes and complex litigation, including patent, trade secret, trademark, and copyright matters.