Life Sciences and Healthcare

Outstanding Team

Han Kun has a dedicated life sciences and healthcare team led by multiple partners and comprised of tens of specialist attorneys.  Our partners on the team all have more than ten years of practice experience in the life sciences and healthcare industries, having served a broad range of both domestic and foreign clients and developed a deep understanding of industry regulatory requirements and commercial dealings.  Our associates on the team are graduates from top law schools both in China and abroad, all fluent in Chinese and English and equipped with excellent legal writing skills.

Our team members are located in Han Kun's four offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong.  Our national scope allows us to be on site to attend meetings, participate in negotiations, carry out investigations, and conduct interviews.  Our corporate management structure also allows us to set up skilled project teams on short notice whenever and wherever the transaction takes place.

Han Kun is well aware of the importance of professional legal services for life sciences and healthcare companies, especially those facing complex legal issues and thus requiring special legal support.  Clients value our teamwork, as we fully leverage the expertise and experience of our professionals-all experts in their respective fields.  Our goal is always to provide clients with thorough and practical solutions and high-quality legal services

Core Areas of Practice

Han Kun is committed to providing clients with comprehensive legal services, which include the following.

• Private equity and venture capital

  
  

  Han Kun is widely acclaimed in the field of private equity and venture capital, both in China and overseas, particularly in life sciences and healthcare.  We offer comprehensive legal services to our clients, including pharmaceutical companies, institutional investors, and private equity funds.  Our services cover all stages of portfolio investments, including fund establishment, investment and financing, and investment disposal and exit.  Over the last three years, we have assisted our clients in various industries of the healthcare sector in completing more than 250 investment and financing deals.

  
  

• Mergers and acquisitions

  Han Kun has been ranked as a first-tier firm for mergers and acquisitions by many legal directories, both in China and overseas. We represent domestic and foreign clients in their M&A deals in the life sciences and healthcare industries, which include equity and asset acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, tender offers, bidding acquisitions, mergers, and divisions, among others.  We have established a solid knowledge base and accumulated extensive practice experience from years of serving clients in different healthcare industries.  We also possess a deep understanding of the legal issues that arise in M&A deals in this area, such as market access, two-invoice policy, centralized drug procurement, MAH transfers, phase-out of outsourced manufacturing capacities, tax optimization, labor adjustments, anti-monopoly review, intellectual property issues, etc.

  
  

• Onshore and offshore capital markets

  Our award-winning capital markets team has a strong presence in the life sciences and healthcare markets.  We have represented companies, underwriters, and sponsors in completing public listings, follow-on issuances, and bond issuances on domestic and foreign capital markets.  Our clients turn to us for fresh and crisp deal solutions in a wide range of matters such as building or dismantling red chip structures, pre-IPO financings, asset and business restructurings, and listings.

  
  

• Pharmaceutical license in/out and asset sale/purchase transactions

  Han Kun is a market leader in pharmaceutical license-in/license-out and asset deals. We have represented a larger number of well-known domestic and foreign pharmaceutical companies in their license-in projects, advising on drug research and development, registration, manufacturing and commercialization in Greater China.  We have also helped our clients to complete other transactions, including the license-out, purchase, and sale of pharmaceutical assets and interests, research and development collaboration, and contract manufacturing and contract research.  Clients enjoy one-stop legal services from our professionals, as we are agile in meeting our clients’ needs through designing deal structures, drafting legal documents, assisting with negotiations, IP due diligence, freedom-to-operate analysis, patent coverage and stability analysis, and so forth.

  
  

• Intellectual property

  Han Kun's intellectual property team comprises experienced attorneys with diverse technical backgrounds, such as in biology, pharmacology, mechanical engineering. We are thus able to help clients achieve their business objectives by combining accurate understandings of science, technology, and law.

  
  

• Data Protection

  Han Kun has extensive experience with data protection matters and has advised many domestic and foreign companies with needs for healthcare data compliance. We are extremely sensitive to legal and policy developments.  As a result, we offer practical solutions to healthcare companies in today's complex regulatory environment, such as helping the companies navigate the latest regulatory requirements on human genetic resource management, biosecurity, and healthcare data security.

  
  

• Compliance and regulatory

  We regularly assist pharmaceutical companies with anti-corruption investigations including cases involving the PRC Law Against Unfair Competition, the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), and the U.K. Anti-bribery Act, etc.  We also offer full services throughout the life-cycles of drug and medical device products, including drug approvals and registrations, qualifications and market access, commercial promotions and distribution, pricing, advertising, import supervision, public safety incident handling, and product recalls.

  
  

• Dispute resolution

  Han Kun's dispute resolution team covers both intellectual property disputes and commercial disputes.  The IP team includes lawyers from various technical backgrounds such as biology, pharmacology, mechanical engineering, etc., excels at handling patent infringement litigation, trade secrets protection litigation, unfair competition litigation, and patent invalidation procedures in the drug and medical device industries.  The commercial dispute resolution team specializes in litigating and arbitrating life sciences and healthcare contract disputes, especially in handling cases involving investments and financings, research and development, and manufacturing and distribution of innovative drug products.

Han Kun is widely recognized and well-known for its life sciences and healthcare practice.  We have been continuously ranked as a first-tier law firm by authoritative legal directories, including Chambers and Partners, The Legal 500, China Business Law Journal, Asialaw Profiles, etc.

"Leading firm that advises international and domestic clients on a range of corporate matters relating to the healthcare sector. Especially recognised for its expertise handling investment and financing matters for an array of pharmaceutical companies and healthcare start-ups as well as capital funds.  Also well placed to handle downstream capital markets work, especially in relation to Hong Kong and US listings. Shows an increasing presence in the regulatory area, representing pharmaceutical companies in compliance matters."

—— Chambers Asia Pacific 2021