Norton Rose Fulbright Awarded Canadian Product Liability Firm of the Year, Canadian Patent Litigator of the Year, and Case of the Year

Norton Rose Fulbright Canada was named Canadian Product Liability Firm of the year and garnered an individual and a case of the year award at the ninth annual LMG Life Sciences virtual awards ceremony held on September 22.

The LMG Life Sciences Awards recognize and honour the achievements of leading life sciences lawyers, law firms, and in-house counsel in the United States, Canada, and Europe that have played a significant role in the life sciences industry.

About The Canadian Patent Litigator of the Year

Kristin Wall, the recipient of the LMG Life Sciences Canadian Patent Litigator of the Year, regularly provides strategic legal advice to innovative players in the pharmaceutical and medical device industry across a breadth of complex litigation and regulatory matters. Also named among the TOP 250 Women in IP globally earlier this year by Managing IP, Kristin’s in-depth understanding of how her clients are regulated enables her to develop sophisticated litigation and market exclusivity strategies. She has extensive litigation experience under the Patented Medicines (Notice of Compliance) Regulations, regulations governing the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board, Certificate of Supplementary Protection (CSP) Regulations, and Food and Drug Regulations. 

Randy Sutton, the global co-head of our life sciences and healthcare industry group stated: 

“Congratulations to Kristin on this outstanding recognition. Kristin has developed a unique practice in Canada and the life sciences sector globally. Her ability to recognize the differing needs of her clients and tailor her legal advice accordingly defines her as a stand-out lawyer. We are pleased that the deal team, led by Kristin Wall, also received an award from LMG Life Sciences. This award speaks to the strength of our practice and the notable clients we frequently advise.”

Norton Rose Fulbright was also awarded Case of the Year in connection to the Natco Pharma v. Minister of Health and Gilead Sciences case. The team was led by Kristin Wall (Toronto) and included Jordana Sanft (Toronto) and William Chalmers (Toronto).

About the Case of the Year 

Our Toronto team successfully represented Gilead Sciences against the first-ever challenge of data protection rights for anti-HIV combination drug therapies. The Federal Court dismissed a judicial review application brought by Natco Pharma Canada, which sought to reverse a ministerial decision preventing the company from marketing its generic version of Gilead’s DESCOVY. 

As data protection is assigned to a single medicinal ingredient, this landmark case tested the application of exclusive market rights to drug products that contain that single medicinal ingredient, in addition to others. A judicial review could have led to DESCOVY being stripped of 4 years of protection, and the pivotal clinical drug data collected by Gilead made available to generics for early reference.

Such an outcome could have potentially compromised the data protection of some two dozen other innovative combination drug products used in the treatment of diseases such as cancer and HIV.

Kristin Wall, intellectual property law partner who led the matter, commented: 

“For our team, it’s very meaningful to have protected the integrity and exclusivity of our clients’ products. We need to protect the pharmaceutical research that underpins innovation, to foster the development of new treatments resulting in better patient outcomes. This sets the stage for the invention of future therapies. It’s in everyone’s interest to ensure that we protect intellectual property.”

It is estimated that a single drug costs upwards of $2 billion and takes more than a decade to develop. 

To learn more visit the LMG Life Sciences site.