The German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy implemented further amendments to the Foreign Trade and Payments Ordinance (Außenwirtschaftsverordnung – AWV) due to the COVID-19 pandemic to prevent the buyout of German companies active in the life sciences and infection protection sectors by investors from outside the EU (or EFTA). The amendment entered into force on 3 June 2020. The amendment broadens the scope of application of cross-sector reviews. In particular, the development and…

On 2 June, the European Commission (Commission) published a roadmap (Roadmap) that will pave the way for the Commission’s communication on the EU pharmaceutical strategy, which is now due in the last quarter of 2020. The Roadmap should be read together with the Commission’s proposal for a recovery of the EU’s economy (Next Generation EU), which was published on 27 May and which includes a section on lessons learned from the…

Reed Smith partner Kevin Madagan and associate Julia Lake will return for a second year to help lead a four-hour “Ad Promo Primer” at the Drug Information Association (DIA)’s “Advertising and Promotion Regulatory Affairs Conference,” which will be held virtually May 18-20, 2020. In addition, Kevin, a member of this year’s planning committee, will be leading a DIA discussion about pricing disclosures and communications.…

California Governor Gavin Newsom’s Executive Order N-43-20 (the Order), which went into effect on April 3, 2020, relaxes various telehealth reporting requirements, penalties, and enforcements otherwise imposed under state laws, including those associated with unauthorized access and disclosure of personal information through telehealth mediums.  The Order acknowledged that telehealth services may help reduce the spread of COVID-19, and strict compliance with certain state telehealth requirements would otherwise “prevent, hinder, or delay appropriate actions to prevent…

Pharmaceutical manufacturers, as well as other companies affected by or included in changes to pharmaceutical supply chains, are invited to join us tomorrow, April 7, for a complimentary webinar focused on current issues facing the global pharmaceutical supply chain. Reed Smith partners J.P. Duffy, Iqbal Hussain, and John Ellison will offer an engaging discussion on: The steps that companies need to take now given the potential for international arbitration claims to arise…

The United States recently passed the “Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act” (CARES Act), sweeping legislation that could impact pharmaceutical and medical device companies with U.S. operations or significant U.S. sales. A team of Reed Smith life sciences and health care lawyers, including Scot T. Hasselman, Robert J. Hill, Carol Colborn Loepere, Kevin M. Madagan, Paul W. Pitts, James F. Segroves, Nicole J. Aiken-Shaban, Julia Krebs-Markrich, Debra…

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (the TCPA) restricts telemarketing and the use of automated telephone equipment for phone calls, faxes, and text messages. In an effort to ease restrictions in light of the COVID-19 outbreak, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has issued guidance clarifying that informational calls that are directly related to the imminent health or safety risk arising out of the COVID-19 outbreak and made by certain types of callers are exempt from the…