England - London • TMT (technology, media and telecoms)

Stephenson Harwood

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Counting big pharma and biotech clients in its roster, ‘excellent’ Stephenson Harwood fields a strong practice in the life sciences arena, alongside notable expertise in handling cross-border litigation. Its key areas of work include advising clients on complex licensing arrangements and other transactions, as well as any disputes that arise from these. Practice head Alexandra Pygall is praised by clients for her ability to provide ’commercial advice’ as well as her ‘great knowledge of the law’. Naomi Leach is well-versed in complex IP licensing and collaboration agreements, and Rob Jacob’s extensive litigation experience is recommended, notably on a global scale and routinely involving cutting-edge issues. Peter Dalton joined the team in February 2023 from Herbert Smith Freehills LLP.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘An excellent team for transactional IP. They have expertise in all aspects of IP law, with an unusual expertise in plant variety law.’

  • ‘Alexandra Pygall is client focused, with commercial advice. She has a great knowledge of the law and uses that in a way that is extremely helpful to her clients.'

  • ‘Pure excellence. I am always very pleased with the collaboration with the team of SH, either as the instructed party or the instructing party.'

  • 'Always available and always with clear advices based on thorough understanding of the legal and commercial context of the relevant matter.’

  • ‘Really strong commercially focused advice delivered efficiently and at good value. Good knowledge of complex areas of law.’

  • ‘Alexandra Pygall is a highly experienced IP specialist, with a scientific background - she understands the issues we face. Her advice is clear. She has a pragmatic, commercial approach to contracting.'

  • ‘Rob Jacob is one of the best in London.’

  • ‘Naomi Leach has a good mix of commercial, data privacy and tech experience. Laura Elliott is a dependable and unflappable associate.’

Key clients

  • Haleon plc
  • GlaxoSmithKline plc
  • M&S
  • Katjes
  • The Dr Wolff Group
  • easyGroup Limited
  • Gap, Inc
  • Oxford Biomedica
  • Shield Therapeutics Plc
  • Acacia Pharma
  • Novacyt A.S.
  • The Duracell Company
  • Highview Power
  • Privatstiftung Lauda
  • Perfetti van Melle
  • CLS Group
  • Biomer
  • AM-Pharma B.V.
  • GroundTruth Global Ltd
  • Stochastico Limited
  • BXT Accelyon
  • Ahoy Club
  • B&CE Holdings Limited
  • BicycleTx Limited
  • GE HealthCare
  • BioNTech

Work highlights

  • Advised Bicycle Therapeutics on its recent strategic collaboration agreement with Novartis to discover and develop multiple targeted radioligand therapies in oncology. Bicycle will receive a US$50 million upfront payment. It is also eligible to receive development and commercial-based milestone payments totalling up to US$1.7 billion, as well as tiered royalties on Bicycle-based medicines commercialised by Novartis.
  • Advised Oxford Biomedica plc in relation to critical and time sensitive arrangements for the manufacture of the AstraZeneca/Oxford University coronavirus vaccine.
  • Advised energy services group Altera in relation to the negotiation of the IP aspects of an Engineering, Procurement and Installation agreement and bareboat charter contract for the electrification (i.e. decarbonisation) and life extension of a large floating, production, storage and offloading vessel ('FPSO') called the Petrojarl Knarr.

Lawyers

Next Generation Partners

Naomi Leach

Naomi Leach

Stephenson Harwood

Naomi has a strong commercial practice, with particular expertise in relation to transactional IP matters. Her practice includes long-term research collaboration and management agreements, licensing arrangements, outsourcing and service agreements, distribution and manufacturing arrangements and data protection. She also frequently works with corporate finance colleagues on the IP/IT and data protection aspects of M&A transactions. Naomi has significant experience working with clients in IP-rich sectors including life sciences, technology and hotels and leisure. She is also responsible for the firm’s growing digital health practice. In addition Naomi advises on the full range of commercial contracts including long term services agreements, software licensing arrangements and outsourcing agreements and data protection law. Naomi has spent time on secondment with clients of the firm including Accor Hotels. Naomi’s transactional IP experience includes  advising clients on licensing (including franchise and hotel management arrangements), partnering, collaboration and R&D agreements (particularly for Biotech and Pharmaceutical companies) as well as on the IP aspects of mergers, acquisitions and investments. Her recent commercial experience includes advising a life sciences client in relation to the outsourcing of its recruitment services in Europe and Asia, the commercial manufacturing agreement for a pharmaceutical product and advising in relation to the branding and management of an Ultra Luxury hotel in London. Finally, in her data protection practice, Naomi has advised in relation to a number GDPR compliance projects, has worked with various Art Galleries for the purposes of their electronic-marketing practices and has advised in relation to the interaction between GDPR compliance and compliance with the Clinical Trials Regulation.

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Alexandra Pygall

Other key lawyers

Rob Jacob, Naomi Leach, Peter Dalton