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Posted On: 08/07/2021 3:03:59 AM
Post# of 148892
Great post, Jake. Thanks.
I'm picking up on your last sentences:
Several on the board have found the hiring of Sidley Austin, and the aggressively professional course SA has pursued, both uncharacteristic and pleasant for CYDY. So I thought I'd look to see if SA has represented the drug giants -- for no good reason, I focused on Merck. Unsurprisingly, they have:
1)
2) SA partner Jeffrey Kushan " focuses his practice on patent litigation...Jeff leverages his deep scientific and patent law experience to develop winning strategies in complex, high-stakes patent litigation. He has represented companies in a wide variety of patent litigation, including competitor litigation relating to groundbreaking cancer biologics..."
Kushan has these cases on his resume:
3) Partner Sona De has focused on biologics and pharma, among other things. This one is on her resume:
4) Stephanie Koh heads the IP litigation group at Sidley Austin's CHicago office, where she focuses on patent litigation. She too has represented Merck:
Very possibly the above "connections" are just random, and if you search any top law firm you'd get connections to any big pharma company. These are dots, but very possibly there is no reason to connect Merck to Cytodyn just because they've both used the same law firm. But the part of Jake's post that really rang true was the thread of money. Cytodyn has suddenly spent a bunch of money on Sidley Austin -- and could be on the hook for a whole lot more -- in a time when you'd expect them to be madly chasing funds instead of splashing them out in a bid to secure management's place at the helm. Follow the money?
I'm picking up on your last sentences:
Quote:
The fact that management was persuasive in this regard increases my confidence that good news lies ahead, and probably in the not so distant future. And while SA no doubt earns substantial client fees from handling proxy fights, my hunch is that it earns far greater fees from handing mergers and acquisitions.
Several on the board have found the hiring of Sidley Austin, and the aggressively professional course SA has pursued, both uncharacteristic and pleasant for CYDY. So I thought I'd look to see if SA has represented the drug giants -- for no good reason, I focused on Merck. Unsurprisingly, they have:
1)
Quote:
Skadden, Sidley Austin Catalyze Latest Health Care Merger
German pharmaceutical giant Merck KGaA has agreed to buy Sigma-Aldrich Corp. for $17 billion in cash in Merck's largest takeover to date.
2) SA partner Jeffrey Kushan " focuses his practice on patent litigation...Jeff leverages his deep scientific and patent law experience to develop winning strategies in complex, high-stakes patent litigation. He has represented companies in a wide variety of patent litigation, including competitor litigation relating to groundbreaking cancer biologics..."
Kushan has these cases on his resume:
Quote:
MERCK & CO
Bristol-Myers Squibb et al. v. Merck & Co., Inc. (D. Del. 2015), represented Merck in patent infringement action accusing Merck’s Keytruda® PD-1 antibody cancer drug (settled 2017).
Merck v. Ono Pharmaceuticals (2016), lead counsel in inter partes review (IPR) proceeding before PTAB challenging patents on PD-1 antibodies.
3) Partner Sona De has focused on biologics and pharma, among other things. This one is on her resume:
Quote:
Merck & Co., Inc. et al. v. Merck KGaA (D.N.J.): Representing Merck & Co., Inc. in a trademark and breach of contract case regarding the use of the name “Merck” in the United States.
4) Stephanie Koh heads the IP litigation group at Sidley Austin's CHicago office, where she focuses on patent litigation. She too has represented Merck:
Quote:
MERCK
Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. v. Actavis (D. NJ) — counsel for Merck in Hatch-Waxman case directed at the antibiotic Dificid®. (Pending)
Very possibly the above "connections" are just random, and if you search any top law firm you'd get connections to any big pharma company. These are dots, but very possibly there is no reason to connect Merck to Cytodyn just because they've both used the same law firm. But the part of Jake's post that really rang true was the thread of money. Cytodyn has suddenly spent a bunch of money on Sidley Austin -- and could be on the hook for a whole lot more -- in a time when you'd expect them to be madly chasing funds instead of splashing them out in a bid to secure management's place at the helm. Follow the money?
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