DLA Piper's EU Life Sciences practice gets strategic boost through Brussels move

DLA Piper's EU Life Sciences practice gets strategic boost through Brussels move

DLA Piper has announced that Marco de Morpurgo, the Co-Chair of its Life Sciences practice, will be splitting his time between the firm's offices in Brussels and Rome, starting from February 1, 2023.

The move is part of DLA Piper's efforts to expand its presence in Brussels and strengthen its offerings in both the Life Sciences and Regulatory sectors. De Morpurgo, an experienced lawyer in the Life Sciences industry, has a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the firm's clients and teams in both Brussels and Rome.

Morpurgo, who is also Head of the EU Life Sciences Regulatory practice, will work closely with Brussels Office Managing Partner, Kristof De Vulder, to build a specialised sector regulatory offering within the office. The move builds on the firm's strategy to create a focal point from which the Brussels office will provide EU regulatory advice and coordinate multi-jurisdictional mandates involving the over 20 jurisdictions where the firm is present across Europe.

Morpurgo focuses on EU regulation of the life sciences industry and already has a broad European practice, regularly supporting clients on pan-European multi-jurisdictional projects. This new 'dual hatting' arrangement will allow him to continue delivering the same high-quality advice to clients but with the added element of deeper EU regulatory exposure. He will also start to build a Brussels-based life sciences regulatory team around him.

DLA Piper's Global Life Sciences practice has a strong reputation in the industry and offers a wide range of legal services to clients in the life sciences sector, including pharmaceuticals, medical devices, biotech, healthtech, clinical research services, and the latest therapeutic innovations.

It is part of the Global Life Sciences practice which is one of the largest and most active of any law firm – both geographically and in terms of dedicated lawyer numbers. The practice helps clients with all their legal needs, including litigation, regulation, compliance and investigations, IP strategy and enforcement, data privacy, competition, M&A, and licensing and distribution.

In addition, Morpurgo's presence in the Brussels office adds impetus to the growth of the wider Government Affairs, Regulatory and Competition offering in the office and further boosts its positioning as a regulatory hub for the EU. As part of this drive, the office has recently appointed experienced Competition partners Laurent Geelhand and Joost Haans, building on the firm's international Competition law offering.

Kristof De Vulder, from DLA Piper, said: "Marco's commitment to the Brussels Office is a clear reflection of the ever-increasing importance that Brussels plays in the formulation of Life Sciences and wider regulatory policy. His presence here will allow him to offer our clients an enhanced level of service through a deeper level of EU regulatory exposure whilst looking to further build the team going forward. In this highly competitive market, it is essential that we retain and build our presence at the coal face of EU regulation whilst building on our global reputation in Life Sciences. In this way, we will continue to offer the outstanding levels of advice that our clients have become accustomed to."