Our Life Sciences & Healthcare expertise
NKF’s Life Sciences team combines deep sector expertise with full-service legal capabilities, advising clients across pharma, biotech, medtech, and healthcare. We support multinational corporations, high-growth innovators, investors, universities, and research institutions with tailored legal solutions that integrate regulatory insight, corporate strategy, and scientific understanding.
We help clients navigate complex regulatory and compliance frameworks, execute strategic transactions such as M&A, financing, and IPOs, and bring innovative products and services to the Swiss market. We also advise healthcare providers on establishing and expanding medical practices and developing telemedicine services. By combining industry specific regulatory and compliance know-how with IP and TMT expertise, we provide practical, industry-focused solutions across the full spectrum of business and innovation challenges.
Our team combines expertise in Regulatory/Compliance, IP/IT (Technology), Data Privacy, Corporate/M&A, Capital Markets and Competition/Antitrust. Many of our lawyers have worked in the industry, giving us the unique ability to understand and address the technical, regulatory, and commercial realities of the life sciences and healthcare industry.
Our Highlights:
- Actelion Ltd in one of the largest European M&A deals of the past 20 years. NKF devised and implemented a dual deal structure consisting of the USD 30 billion takeover of Actelion by Johnson & Johnson and the demerger and spin-off to shareholders of Idorsia Ltd which comprised Actelion’s drug discovery and early clinical development business
- GSK in the GSK-Novartis asset swap (Vaccines, Oncology) and joint venture (Consumer Healthcare) transaction
- Advisor to International Chemical Investors Group (ICIG) on the sale of CordenPharma to European private equity firm Astorg
- Swiss counsel to A.P. Møller Holding A/S on the acquisition of Unilabs from funds advised by Apax Partners LLP
- Medacta Group SA, an international orthopaedics company specialising in the design and production of innovative orthopaedic products and the development of accompanying surgical techniques, in connection with the launch of its IPO
- Advisor to the banking syndicate in connection with the initial public offering of VectivBio Holding AG and the listing of its shares on Nasdaq
- Counsel to the arrangers on the financing of Bain and Cinven for the acquisition of Lonza’s Specialty Ingredients business and operations for an enterprise value of CHF 4.2 billion
- Chr. Hansen Holding A/S, a leading global bioscience company listed on OMX, on its agreement with Lonza AG, a leading pharma contract manufacturing company listed on SIX, to establish a 50/50 joint venture to pioneer the live biotherapeutic products (LBPs) industry and position themselves as the leading contract development and manufacturing partner (CDMO) for biotech and pharma customers
- Idorsia Ltd in its USD 550 mio capital raising
- Boston Scientific in its acquisition of Swiss based Symetis
- BioTelemetry, Inc. in its successful competing tender and exchange offer for SIX listed med tech company LifeWatch AG
- Actelion Ltd in its successful defense against the proxy fight and hostile takeover attempt of Elliott Associates and other activist firms