Jointly led by Nicola Benz and the ‘very smart, very strategic’ Simon Holzer, the Zurich based team at MLL Legal acts for universities and pharma companies in matters involving the drafting and negotiation of clinical trial and cooperation agreements, pricing disputes, and the use of blockchain within a pharma context. Benz primarily advises technology companies, investors, and suppliers on outsourcing and collaboration related issues within the life sciences sector. IP litigator Holzer is well known for his broad expertise in matters involving FRAND cases and standard essential patents, with the pharma industry being his key area of focus. Ulrike Ciesla has vast experience in handling patent prosecution and appeal proceedings, while Louisa Galbraith is well versed in mandates concerning unfair competition and trade marks.
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘The team around Simon Holzer is one of the best to advise on patent matters in Switzerland, especially in the life sciences field. Ulrike Ciesla and Kilian Schärli are also outstanding. They are always great to work with in pan-European litigation projects.’
‘Great client service and responsiveness, always calm and measured. Great quality advice.’
‘Simon Holzer is one of the leading Swiss IP/patents practitioners. He is always calm and measured, and very responsive when needed. He is very easy to work with and he provides excellent legal and commercial advice. I would highly recommend him. Louisa Galbraith is a rising star.’
‘Fast turnaround, very helpful advice.’
‘Excellent understanding and knowledge of the market and its players, quick understanding of complexities for drafting contracts, including technological aspects.’
‘Very smart, strategic, focused, quickly get a grip of the essentials and provide tailored advice to the client's benefit. ’
‘Simon Holzer: Very smart, very strategic, quick and thorough analysis and advice.’
Key clients
- Alpex Pharma SA
- AstraZeneca AB (Sweden)
- AstraZeneca (Switzerland) AG
- Authena
- Axapharm AG
- Bayer Pharma AG (Germany)
- Bayer Intellectual Property AG (Germany)
- Bayer Consumer Care AG (Switzerland)
- Bayer (Schweiz AG) (Switzerland)
- Baxter Ltd
- Becton Dickinson Company
- Bioeq AG
- Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG
- Carestream
- Cellprotect Holding AG
- cereneo Schweiz AG and cereneo International AG
- Eli Lilly
- Eurospine, The Spine Society of Europe
- Exact Sciences International Sàrl
- Gilead Sciences, Inc.
- H. Lundbeck A/S (Denmark)
- Lundbeck Schweiz AG (Switzerland)
- Implantec Schweiz GmbH
- Innoplexus
- Intuitive Surgical
- Kantonsspital St. Gallen (KSSG)
- Lipomed AG
- Lusaria AG
- MaKe WeBo AB
- Modum
- Mundipharma Medical Company
- Mundipharma AG
- Neosim
- Psychiatrische Dienste Aargau AG
- RDP Pharma AG
- Scoutbee
- Shockwave Medical
- Spital Männedorf AG
- Swiss Cosmetic Association (SKW)
- Swiss Medtech
- Swiss Rockets
- Takeda
- ViiV Healthcare
- Visiomed Laboratories
Work highlights
- Represented Bayer in Swiss patent preliminary injunction (PI) proceedings against the Swiss Zentiva affiliate Helvepharm concerning Bayer’s cancer drug Nexavar.
- Assisted Interpharma, the Swiss trade association of the research-based pharmaceutical industry, by writing an expert opinion on the secondary use of personal data in the pharmaceutical industry and pharmaceutical research. The opinion is used in the context of ongoing legislative activities.
- Advised the privately owned Lipomed AG on the sale of its Reference Standards Business to LGC. The team advised Lipomed AG on all legal and tax aspects of this complex cross-border transaction where assets and a foreign subsidiary of Lipomed AG were sold to LGC.
Lawyers
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Nicola Benz, Simon Holzer