Department of Health appoints five firms to £10m pharma litigation panel
The Department of Health has selected three law firms for a £10m quasi-framework agreement covering civil litigation, arbitration and mediation against companies in the pharmaceutical industry.
The Department said the requirement was “for the provision of exploratory legal and professional advice, market structure analysis (incorporating financial analysis) and representation within civil proceedings.
“The scope of civil proceedings may include but shall not be limited to investigation into deceit, anti-competitive agreements, patent infringement and the abuse of dominant market positions by companies.”
The Department said it had received 11 tenders. The successful firms were:
- Peters & Peters
- Capsticks
- Hill Dickinson
- Berwin Leighton Paisner
- Trowers and Hamlins
The agreement is for a three-year term with two optional consecutive optional extensions of one year.
The quasi-framework is open for use by the NHS Litigation Authority (NHS Resolution) for work that is deemed within scope. It is estimated that the value of the work conducted by the NHSLA will amount to less than 5 % of the advertised framework value.