McDermott Will & Schulte, a global law firm

Emmanuelle Trombe is the co-head of the Firm’s Life Sciences industry practice. She represents pharmaceutical, medical device and bio-pharmaceutical companies globally in transactional matters in relation to M&A and divestitures, joint ventures and strategic partnerships, large-scale projects, outsourcing projects, product development, licensing agreements and regulatory matters. She also advises venture capital funds and bio-pharmaceutical companies in connection with a broad range of financing activities. As well as co-heading the Firm’s Life Sciences Group, Emmanuelle serves as an elected member of the Firm’s Management Committee.

Emmanuelle is distinguished in Chambers Europe and Legal 500 EMEA in life sciences transactions, where she is highly recommended for her experience in the pharmaceutical, healthcare, biotech and medical devices industries and described as very responsive, smart, flexible and business-minded. She has been distinguished as the Lawyer of the Year in Life Sciences for 2024.

Emily Jane Cook serves as counsel to clients in the healthcare sector from start-ups to established market leaders on a wide range of critical regulatory matters to ensure compliant business operations. Her guidance allows these organizations to prospectively and retrospectively manage the risks associated with operating in a high-complexity and highly-regulated sector.

A national authority on the 340B drug pricing program, Emily also helps clients across the country navigate a wide range of complex federal and state healthcare regulations. Her counsel encompasses issues such as navigating federal and state fraud and abuse laws, development of innovative models for healthcare delivery, Medicare provider-based and co-location rules, pharmacy laws and licensure, graduate medical education, and federally qualified health centers. This depth of knowledge across many regulatory issues allows her to provide her clients with comprehensive legal advice and guidance, which allows them to fully evaluate risks in their business and clinical operations. She works closely with colleagues in McDermott’s diverse practice areas to deliver fully realized solutions for her clients.

Emily’s deep insights into US healthcare regulation stem from her previous tenure at the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). For more than five years, she worked with providers and across government agencies to address regulatory barriers to healthcare delivery. She advised senior HHS leadership on Medicare and Medicaid regulation and reimbursement issues affecting rural communities and providers, and served as senior policy advisor to the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services.

Emily is an active member of the American Health Law Association, where she most recently served as the Chair of their Medicare and Medicaid Institute. She is also a member of the firm’s Health/White Collar cross-practice group.

Jana Grieb has been advising pharmaceutical and medical technology companies on all aspects of health law for over 20 years. She accompanies pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and in vitro diagnostics throughout their entire life cycle - from research and development to market access, advertising and distribution. One main area of her work is providing legal and strategic advice on market entry and reimbursement paths in the European Union, with a particular focus on the EU regulations on medical devices and in vitro diagnostics and the law governing statutory health insurance in Germany. In this context, Jana also advises on research and distribution collaborations.

Besides her regulatory focus, Jana provides comprehensive advice on compliance issues in the healthcare market, including aspects of competition and medical advertising law, cooperation with professionals under anti-corruption and association law requirements, as well as background advice on commercial criminal law. She supports her clients in the establishment and further development of their compliance management.

Finally, Jana advises with broad experience on the borderline of health markets to neighboring product markets, mainly food, cosmetics, wellness and electronic products.

Jana is a regular speaker and author of numerous publications on pharmaceutical and medical device law.

Diana Hund advises clients on a wide variety of corporate transactions, including domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, and leveraged buyouts.

Diana represents private equity sponsors, founders and managers in connection with acquisitions and disposals. She also represents German corporate groups in their investments in French companies and other cross-border transactions. In addition, Diana advises venture capital funds, corporate clients and entrepreneurs on venture capital and growth transactions of various types in sectors such as e-commerce and technology.

Prior to joining the Firm, Diana worked at other leading international law firms.

Nicolette Kost De Sèvres focuses her practice on global investigations, compliance and regulatory enforcement matters. A former financial regulator and general counsel of a large, listed company, she has over 24 years of experience in compliance, white-collar crime and financial regulation. Nicolette serves as co-head of McDermott Will & Schulte’s global investigations and compliance practice.

Nicolette has practiced in Paris, London, Sydney, Washington, DC, and Montreal, including at the New York Stock Exchange in Paris (NYSE Euronext) and the Royal Bank of Scotland in London. She also served as chief of staff and advisor to the president of the Financial Markets Authority in Canada under two different presidents.

Nicolette has a wealth of experience in anti-corruption and anti-money laundering (AML) compliance both in Europe and globally. She handles corporate and regulatory investigations, risk assessments, and due diligence compliance, including Know Your Client (KYC) regulations. Nicolette also represents clients before enforcement agencies and regulators in Europe, Canada and the United States, such as the new French Anti-Corruption Agency (AFA) and assists them in compliance, investigations and regulatory matters related to regulators such as ESMA the AMF, ACPR, CFTC, SEC, the World Bank and other multilateral banks.

Nicolette advises financial institutions and global and local companies on preventive measures. She is a sought-after advisor in complex white-collar crime matters, building and strengthening local and global compliance programs, preparing or conducting risk assessments and mapping, whistleblowing systems, compliance programs, World Bank Integrity Guidelines, the French Loi Sapin II, Loi sur le devoir de vigilance, FCPA, UKBA, EU Directives relating to whistleblower protection, ESG reporting, EU financial regulation (including MIFID, EMIR, AIFMD, BASEL, BRDD, AML, PDS2, SEPA) and FinTech regulation. Additionally, she has a special insight on the military and defense sectors in the United States and France.

A known thought leader in the global market, Nicolette is a sought-after writer and speaker on compliance, enforcement, business ethics, international financial markets and the effects of regulation on financial systemic risk, derivatives, high-frequency trading and the legal framework of European financial markets.

She is the author of the book International Economic Law, numerous articles in compliance and investigations and one of the first articles on DLT, “Blockchain Revolution: An Analysis of Regulation and Technology Related to Distributed Ledger Technologies.” She teaches compliance, investigations and FinTech.

Sharon Lamb focuses her practice on transactional and regulatory advice in the health and life sciences sector and leads McDermott’s UK Health and Life Sciences Practice Group.

Sharon advises on global transactional mandates, including mergers and acquisitions and joint ventures in health services, pharma and life sciences, digital health and health technologies. Sharon also provides strategic, regulatory and commercial support to UK and international clients on UK health and life sciences with a focus on health services, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, digital health and health data.

Sharon is widely recognized for her expertise on NHS and public law procurement, regulatory and contracting matters, including payment and reimbursement and market access. She has particular experience advising strategic and private equity investors in transactions and investments in health and life sciences.

Sharon is also well-versed in health care services governance and regulatory matters, NHS public private partnerships, procurements, joint ventures and shared working arrangements, mergers, acquisitions, health data and competition issues.

Sharon has practiced health and life sciences law in the UK since 2002 and is recognized in Chambers and Legal 500. Sharon has written and lectures widely on health and life sciences issues and has a wealth of experience with NHS law and policy, having worked on a 4-year part time secondment with the NHS and national health bodies in London.

Aymen Mahmoud is the European Head of Finance and Co-Head of both the London Transactions Group, and the London Finance, Restructuring and Special Situations Group. He is also Managing Partner of the Firm’s London office. He focuses his practice on complex debt financing transactions for private equity funds and their portfolio companies, hedge funds, corporate borrowers and issuers and other financial institutions including banks, direct lenders, family offices and other alternative sophisticated capital. His experience includes acting in respect of direct lending, leveraged buyouts, domestic and cross-border syndicated senior, second lien and mezzanine lending, distressed debt trading, portfolio acquisitions and restructurings, emerging markets and other debt securities, including high-yield debt offerings. Aymen also has significant experience in connection with pre-EBITDA and recurring revenue financings.

Aymen has been described as a “uniquely commercial and creative transaction leader” as well as “savvy, knowledgeable, always available and always on the ball” by Legal 500 and Chambers note him to be “extremely commercial and pragmatic.” He played a key role in first establishing the Loan Market Association forms of leveraged and high yield documentation and has been recognized in numerous significant awards, including Global Restructuring Review’s global “40 under 40” rankings in 2022, Mergerlinks‘ Top 30 Financing Lawyers in EMEA in 2023 and Financial News “Most Influential Lawyer” list in 2026.

Anne-France Moreau has over a decade of experience counselling clients on corporate and general commercial law, with a particular focus on pharmaceutical, medical device, health care and cosmetics industries. Anne-France assists French and non-French groups in the preparation and negotiation of collaborations, licenses and distribution agreements. She has experience on a number of merger, acquisition and private equity transactions, including divestitures, financing rounds and joint ventures for French and non-French corporations. Further, Anne-France regularly handles digital health matters as well as regulatory issues.

Anne-France worked in a legal department of a French major leading pharmaceutical company, where she gained experience in pharmaceutical operations.

Anthony Paronneau focuses his practice on a broad range of corporate and transactional matters, with a particular focus on the pharmaceutical, medical device, biotech, and healthcare sectors.

He has extensive experience representing life sciences companies, private equity funds, and venture capital firms in complex M&A and private equity transactions, including acquisitions, venture financings, joint ventures, and divestitures.

Anthony regularly advises emerging growth companies and VC investors on the structuring and negotiation of early- and late-stage funding rounds, and has acted on numerous high-profile cross-border and domestic transactions involving leading innovators in the healthtech and biotech spaces.

In addition, he counsels life sciences clients on strategic partnerships, collaborations, licensing agreements, and distribution arrangements, supporting their growth and commercialization strategies across all stages of development.

Henri Pieyre de Mandiargues focuses on private equity transactions, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate and venture capital transactions.

Henri regularly represents private equity sponsors in their domestic and international transactions and reorganizations. He has advised top executives, management teams and employees in leveraged management buyout (LMBO) and leveraged management buy-in (LMBI) transactions valued up to €6 billion. Henri is recognized as one of the key players in this field on the Paris market. He also regularly assists domestic and multinational corporations in their acquisitions, divestitures and corporate reorganizations. In addition, he represents family-owned groups and founding shareholders in relation to equity reorganizations and their partnering with private equity or venture capital institutions.

Prior to joining the Firm, Henri was a partner at other leading international law firms.

Fabrice Piollet focuses his practice on mergers & acquisitions and private equity transactions, handling a range of mandates across all sectors, both nationally and internationally. He works with some of the most active and widely recognised private equity funds on the market.

Fabrice works alongside entrepreneurs and corporate groups, counselling them on strategic challenges – including focus on external growth and M&A.

He has developed a particular experience within scale-up companies (digital, technology, artificial intelligence and medtech) and supports founders and investors in their venture capital and private equity operations.

Before joining McDermott, Fabrice worked as an associate in a major international law firm in Paris, focusing on private equity.

James (Jamie) Ravitz is the co-head of the firm’s Life Sciences industry practice and head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) practice. He works alongside clients across the entire spectrum of life sciences and healthcare law, including regulatory counsel, compliance, and investigations and government enforcement. He is particularly focused on Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory counseling. Jamie works in partnership with companies and investors across the complete ecosystem of FDA-regulated products — drugs, devices, health technologies, biologics, food, cosmetics and cannabis — to help them achieve their business goals.

Jamie works with manufacturers and distributors of FDA-regulated products, with deep experience on novel drugs, biologics, and cutting-edge products, from the product concept stage through to post-market and product marketing to facilitate market success and reduce enforcement risk. Jamie is a valuable addition to healthcare and life sciences transaction matters, assisting clients with FDA-related due diligence to maximize value and minimize risk and roadblocks during the transaction.

When compliance or enforcement matters arise, Jamie takes a proactive, business-focused approach to address the issues with minimal business disruption. He also works with clients on the regulatory components of internal investigations, enforcement activity, and consumer protection litigation when they arise. He has worked with clients on numerous internal investigations and responses to Office of Inspector General (OIG) and US Department of Justice (DOJ) subpoenas and has assisted in the defense and settlement of qui tam whistleblower suits alleging violations of the False Claims Act.

Jamie is a recognized thought leader in the health law and medical device spaces. He is a regular speaker at health and life sciences industry conferences and has served as an advisory board member to bio-innovation centers and trade media editorial boards.

Prior to joining McDermott Will & Schulte, Jamie served as leader of the FDA, healthcare, and consumer products compliance practice at a large international law firm.

Dr. Monika Richter advises national and international biotechnology/pharmaceuticals companies on various commercial legal matters related to the development, manufacturing and commercialization of medicinal products, with a particular focus on strategic alliances, research and development collaborations, license agreements, commercial manufacturing and supply agreements and distribution agreements. Her work likewise includes financing and corporate transactions as well as mergers and acquisitions.

Given her Polish background, Monika Richter is active in the Eastern European market, regularly speaking at industry conferences in Poland and advising Polish clients on several cross-border collaborations in the life sciences sector.

Michael (Mike) Ryan advises manufacturers, healthcare providers, and investors on the legal, regulatory, and reimbursement/market access issues that arise during the development and commercialization of medical devices, clinical laboratory testing services, biological products, and drugs. He helps clinical laboratories and life sciences companies maintain regulatory compliance and evaluate, develop, and implement strategies to optimize coding, coverage, and payment for novel technologies.

Additionally, Mike helps innovative companies identify and navigate applicable Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory requirements for new technologies, particularly in vitro diagnostics and digital health products. He regularly advises clients on the FDA’s evolving requirements for laboratory developed tests (LDTs) and reviews promotional and marketing materials for FDA-regulated medical products.

Mike also counsels clinical laboratories on state and federal compliance issues, including those under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA), state laboratory licensure laws, and billing and reimbursement rules.

Kristian (Krist) Werling is the global head of McDermott’s Health & Life Sciences practice, which provides regulatory and transactional counsel to health and life sciences industry leaders, changemakers, and investors.

Krist and the McDermott Health & Life Sciences team lead the most significant transactions, critical regulatory issues, and litigation matters that shape the health and life sciences industry. In his own practice, Krist represents life sciences companies, health service providers, private equity firms, and venture capital investors in a wide variety of transactional and regulatory matters. He has led cutting-edge industry transactions that have introduced cancer and gene therapy products to the global market, expanded access to fertility services, increased the availability of cost-effective outpatient surgical services, and transformed the delivery of physician services in a broad range of specialties.

Krist's decades of experience on the buy-side and sell-side of health and life sciences dealmaking spans the healthcare and life sciences landscape. He leads cross-disciplinary teams and delivers business-focused legal guidance to help clients pursue their most innovative strategies, working across borders and health and life sciences subsectors to connect and advise industry stakeholders. Krist is also skilled at developing creative transaction structures, conducting sector-specific due diligence, and providing forward-looking counsel to mitigate issues that can derail transactions or stunt long-term growth. His deep understanding of sector-specific regulatory nuances allows him to efficiently close transactions and maximize client outcomes.

Representative PE clients include Ampersand Capital Partners (buy-side and sell-side); Amulet Capital Partners (buy-side and sell-side); Windrose Health Investors (buy-side and sell-side M&A, and joint venture matters); Iron Path Capital (investments, carve-out acquisitions and new platform formations), Quad-C (new platform formation and investment and sell-side), PPC (buy-side).

Representative healthcare and life sciences companies include Baxter International and Vanda Pharmaceuticals (cross-border sales and acquisitions; licensing); REGENXBIO (strategic partnership with AbbVie); Cleveland Clinic, Hospital for Special Surgery and Northwestern Medicine (strategic innovation investments and joint ventures); numerous founder-owned businesses in strategic transactions with investors.