Morris, Manning & Martin’s Medical Device Practice enables successful development of new medical device and life science technologies by providing legal and business guidance on formation, financing and operation of leading medical device companies.

Key Services:

• Corporate
• Venture capital
• Regulatory and compliance
• Intellectual property
• Licensing & distribution
• Mergers & acquisitions
• Employment
• Securities
• Product Liability
• Public offerings
• Privacy and security
• Joint ventures/Strategic alliances

Client Focus

The Medical Device Practice of Morris, Manning & Martin has built its reputation by assisting medical device entrepreneurs grow their businesses. We have consistently focused on representing companies that are developing and commercializing new technologies and engaged in fundamental scientific research. From our inception over 30 years ago, we have grown into one of the leading law firms in the Southeast and, in the words of the Atlanta Business Chronicle, are “generally regarded as having the city’s top technology group.” We understand the promise of medical device and life sciences technology, and we bring the full scope of our expertise to help our clients succeed.

Legal Leaders

From emerging companies to large public enterprises, Morris, Manning & Martin has become a leader in technology related venture capital deals, M&A transactions and IPOs for medical device companies. We have also developed leading practices in the intellectual property and regulatory areas related to the medical device industry. As such, our lawyers have the industry experience and business acumen to work with companies in all stages of development, from idea generation and initial patent filings, to clinical trials and venture financings, through to an M&A transaction or an IPO and beyond. We maintain extensive ties with venture capital firms and other investors who are active in the medical device field. We were leaders in the formation and operation of the Southeastern Medical Device Association (SEMDA), a networking community that helps inventors and entrepreneurs locate sources of financing, navigate complex licensing and regulatory issues and grow their medical device businesses. Through SEMDA and other organizations, our Medical Device Practice has an extended reach into resources and contacts and has established crucial business relationships within the medical device community.

Raising Capital

Medical device and related life science companies need capital to grow. We have been recognized as the Southeast’s leading law firm in representing companies in venture capital transactions. In the recent past, we have acted as counsel in well over 200 venture capital transactions that have raised approximately $2 billion. Due to our active practice in this area, we have strong relationships with many venture capitalists throughout the country. We assist our clients in identifying funding sources, creating the appropriate investment structure and negotiating both the term sheet and final investment documents. More importantly, our experience helps our clients avoid strategic errors that may hinder further growth or complicate exit strategies. We understand that as our clients succeed, we succeed. Therefore, our philosophy is to add value, not expense.

As our clients grow, we assist them in raising capital in the public securities markets, where we have been ranked among the top firms in the nation in initial public offerings. In the recent past, our clients have raised approximately $6 billion from sales of equity in initial public offerings. As company counsel, we help our clients through every stage of the offering process, from identifying and selecting the underwriters to preparing the prospectus and closing the transaction.

For companies with an interest in debt financing, we are very active in the public and private debt markets. In addition to acting as counsel with respect to offerings of debt securities, such as senior subordinated notes and convertible subordinated notes, we are regularly involved in asset-based financings, acquisition financings, mezzanine financings, syndicated financings and sale/leaseback transactions.

Achieving Corporate Goals

Many of our clients engage in joint ventures or mergers and acquisitions as an integral part of their corporate strategies. Due to our reputation for providing creative, efficient and effective solutions to our clients’ business and legal challenges, we have one of the leading merger, acquisition and joint venture practice groups in the Southeast. In the recent past, we have acted as counsel in more than $15 billion of merger, acquisition and joint venture transactions. We represent companies at all stages of their growth. We are able to efficiently staff transactions from small private company acquisitions to multibillion-dollar public company acquisitions and joint ventures.

We have particular experience in complicated domestic and international licensing, distribution and joint venture transactions. These types of transactions often require expertise in many legal disciplines, such as tax, securities, intellectual property, litigation, employee benefits, environmental and real estate. To address the complexities of these transactions, we create multidisciplinary client teams that work together seamlessly and efficiently to complete the transactions.

Protecting and Managing Intellectual Property

Most of our clients create and depend upon intellectual property as their core asset. Our practice group that deals with protecting, developing, selling, licensing and granting rights in intellectual property is among the most prominent in the Southeast. Patent filings and transactions involving critical technologies require not only solid legal drafting and negotiation skills, but also comprehensive technical knowledge and business acumen. Patens and technology contracts are as diverse as the technologies they address, and the law governing patenting and licensing intellectual property evolves almost daily. Accordingly, we actively focus our practice on understanding and applying the most recent industry and legal developments for the benefit of our clients.

Regulatory Guidance

We provide guidance on key regulatory issues faced by a medical device concern. Clients count on our thorough understanding of HIPAA privacy and security rules to keep them in compliance with the evolving nuances of this recent law. Operational hurdles are surmounted, from FDA compliance issues through clinical trials to product approval. We also focus on reimbursement issues, fraud and abuse laws and product liability concerns, allowing our clients to keep their attention fixed on creating innovative medical products. Together with Morris, Manning & Martin’s healthcare regulatory lawyers, we provide the sound advice our clients need to successfully navigate the many laws and regulations imposed upon them, both in the U.S. and internationally.

Interdisciplinary Approach

Practicing a team approach to legal service, we work closely with other relevant practices, such as our licensing, intellectual property and healthcare regulatory practices, to assist medical device and related life science companies in all stages of their life cycles. Our medical device lawyers also draw upon the experience of our corporate and technology practices, who have built their reputations on helping entrepreneurs grow their businesses and by representing companies that are developing and commercializing new technologies, particularly in scientific research. We advise and assist our medical device clients on matters involving equity and debt financings, mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property, technology licensing and protection, strategic joint ventures and general corporate governance. For a sound legal approach with sophisticated deal-making experience, medical device clients rely on Morris, Manning & Martin.

Representative Clients and Transactions

Morris, Manning & Martin’s medical device lawyers represent clients and organizations of all types across the medical device industry, including clients engaged in the development of products in the cardiovascular, orthopedic, endoscopic, bioinformatics, nanotechnology and related fields, as well as other biotechnology and healthcare companies, including therapeutics companies, clinical research organizations, pharmaceutical manufacturers, pharmaceutical distributors, healthcare IT companies and venture capital and private equity investors. Several recent representations include:

• Representation of medical device company developing a product combining radiation therapy with MRI technology in a $25M venture capital transaction.
• Patent filings for medical device company involved in the research and development of products for use in minimally invasive cardiothoracic surgery.
• Formation and initial licensing transaction for company developing innovative products for neuropsychological assessments.
• Representation of several leading research universities in licensing and technology transfer transactions to commercialize new medical devices.
• Representation of a leading clinical research organization based in the U.K. in its U.S. acquisitions.
• Representation of specialty pharmaceutical company in it initial Series A financing.
• Representation of venture capital fund in its Series A investment in a leading provider of endoscopy products.
• Representation of a technology based, healthcare cost-containment company, in its $25M acquisition of a competing provider and several PPO networks and in its $35M senior secured credit facility.
• Representation of a development stage company involved in the research and development of bifocal and progressive contact lenses for treatment of presbyopia in its Series B financing.