Case study:
Due diligence project for M&A

Initial situation

Our client, one of the ten largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, asked us for advice in connection with an M&A project. It requested a report on the specific European IP situation in order to be able to make an informed decision on whether to continue its contemplation of acquiring a smaller pharmaceutical company.

Action taken

This pharmaceutical company has been a client of HOFFMANN EITLE for several decades and two of the partners in our chemistry team are permanently assigned to this client. We were therefore able to provide immediate assistance. The client had an immediate point of contact and was reassured that its delicate matter would be dealt with by trusted advisors.

Outcome

HOFFMANN EITLE compiled a list of the key products the target company had in its pipeline, and determined which IP rights in the portfolio were potentially relevant for which product. Since it turned out that there were no granted patents, we looked into the prosecution history of the pending applications and were able to give a summary of their status and a prediction on the likely outcome of the ongoing prosecution. We also evaluated several potentially relevant third-party rights, and delivered a report on freedom-to-operate aspects. With our input, our client was able to make an informed decision on how to continue.