As Prescribed

As readers will be aware, at the end of 2025, the EU institutions agreed the text of the EU Pharma Package: the wholesale change to the pharmaceutical regime in the EU that has been debated for many years. The changes introduce wide ranging amendments that impact rewards and exclusivities, supply chain set up, and procedures for generics and biosimilars. With the text of the new legislation due to be published shortly, questions are being asked about what this means for the legislative framework in the UK. The EU Pharma Package means divergence between the UK and EU is inevitable, and this is likely to have significant implications for the UK market.

The life sciences industry has long been at the forefront of innovation, and 2025 promises to continue this trajectory with exciting developments in intellectual property (IP), licensing, and mergers and acquisitions (M&A). As the sector navigates a dynamic landscape of scientific advancements, economic pressures, and regulatory changes, stakeholders are increasingly leveraging strategic transactions to gain a competitive edge.

Pharmaceutical drug pricing and reimbursement remains a bipartisan focus as we draw closer to the November presidential elections, with politicians remaining steadfast in their efforts to turn up the heat on pharmaceutical manufacturers. Politicians and other groups from across the political spectrum have coalesced around a 40-year-old statute known as the Bayh-Dole Act—intended to facilitate the public’s beneficial use of patented inventions by securing intellectual property (IP) rights for inventors—and are seeking to transform the statute’s never-before-used “march-in” rights to influence the price of drug products.

For our third and final Biotech Week Boston post, partner Stephen Altieri—one of the many within our 250-member-strong comprehensive cross-practice life sciences team with an advanced scientific degree—discusses efficient patent protection for emerging biotech companies with patent agent Emily Coury.