Life Sciences, Pharma & Healthcare

+ 17 other experts

The largest life sciences practice at a top-tier full-service firm in the Netherlands

.. with a practice that spans the entire spectrum of legal services relevant to the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry and to biotech companies.

We have strength and depth across this multifaceted sector, and advise on all relevant angles of legal life sciences work: ranging from M&A, financing transactions, IPOs (on Euronext Amsterdam, NASDAQ or other venues), corporate and governance, licensing transactions (often on a global scale), competition, regulatory and IP strategic advice through to litigation, compliance and investigations.

Our in-house capabilities give us a unique position from which to advise clients involved in life sciences matters which are by nature, often multidisciplinary. We are regularly retained for major transactions in the life sciences sector and our litigation department handles several of the largest healthcare and life sciences cases in the Netherlands, ranging from patent litigation to class actions pertaining to faulty medical devices and medicine.

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We cover a broad spectrum of Life Sciences work for pharmaceutical companies, biotech firms and medical supply companies.

On behalf of our strong client base in the food and drink industry (Unilever, PepsiCo, Danone, JDE and P&G to name but a few), we have a leading role in developments relating to food claims and the actions taken by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

We are the patent litigation firm of choice for many multinationals wishing to coordinate their patent strategy throughout Europe. Our Patent Law practice members combine their strong foundation in patent and procedural law with their extensive knowledge of the economics of, and the mechanisms, in this sector.

Learn More about our patents practice

A strong Dutch full service firm with the patent department also having a focus on Life Sciences... unique in combining legal and technical thinking when developing strategies and arguments. This team is unique in their extraordinary ability to learn the subject matter in a very short time, applying it in court and turn it into victory... They are a pleasure to work with both on a professional and a personal level.

Legal 500, 2021

Insights

30 June 2025

DOJ provides guidance on shift in US white-collar enforcement strategy

As discussed in our February update, the Trump administration started its second term by announcing significant changes in the white-collar enforcement priorities of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). A brief recap: President Trump ordered the DOJ to pause Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) investigations and enforcement actions for 180 days. Attorney General Pam Bondi had signalled shifts in the DOJ's priorities towards the goal of "total elimination" of drug cartels and Transnational Crime Organizations (TCOs). Several of the Attorney General's memoranda at the time also alluded to potential deprioritisation of corporate enforcement in business-related national security cases and protection of US companies in particular. On the basis of these broad strokes directions, the DOJ had been directed to issue new guidelines.
28 February 2025

CJEU issues important decision on cross-border patent injunctions

On 25 February 2025, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) answered preliminary questions in a long-awaited ruling in a case between BSH Hausgeräte GmbH (BSH) and Electrolux AB (Electrolux). The ruling clarifies certain aspects regarding cross-border patent injunctions against defendants domiciled in an EU member state and seems to broaden the possibilities of cross-border injunctions.
28 February 2025

First month of Trump presidency signals shifts in DOJ white-collar enforcement priorities

In the first month since the inauguration, the Trump administration issued a series of executive orders and memoranda that direct the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to pause enforcement under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and that put a strong emphasis on fighting cartels and transnational criminal organisations (TCO). While the directives clearly represent a dramatic break from past DOJ priorities and several issues remain as "known unknowns," it bears emphasizing that they do not change the validity and enforceability of the underlying laws, including the FCPA, sanctions, export controls and terrorism offenses.

Team

Bertrand ter Woort

Senior Associate

Bernard Spoor

Retired partner | Brauwerij supervisor