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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

DIG PHARMA - The pandemic has made a lot of previously unimaginable things possible. Add to that list the fact that the public's attitude toward pharmaceutical companies has improved significantly over the past year. The Harris Poll reported in February that 62% of Americans gave the pharmaceutical industry a positive rating, a dramatic increase from the 32% positive rating drug companies received in January 2020. The dramatic upswing in perception "stems directly from pharma's proactive response to COVID-19," the Harris Poll said. Another poll, from Data for Progress, found 56% of Americans had a favorable view of pharmaceutical companies in late March, and only 24% had an unfavorable view. Now, Law.com's Charles Toutant reports, lawyers bringing drug defect cases will need to contend with this newfound positivity toward Big Pharma, which may spread into the jury pool. But, so far at least, plaintiffs attorneys appear to be ready for the challenge. "If I'm trying a case against Moderna [a developer of a COVID-19 vaccine], there's going to be a positive impression and you're going to have to deal with it," Christopher Placitella, a drug defect lawyer at Cohen, Placitella & Roth in Red Bank, New Jersey, told Toutant. "I'm OK with it. I think if you have the evidence, those biases are easily overcome."

INHOSPITABLE ENVIRONMENT - It is, of course, no secret that the hospitality industry suffered a massive blow this past year. But as vaccinations become more prevalent, there now appears to be a surge of travelers and diners using hotels and restaurants. Still, as Law.com's Dan Clark reports, there remains some doubt in the industry about whether it will be enough to keep the lights on going forward. "The in-house folks right now are now looking at whether this is going to be a sustained, successful environment," Craig Ganz, a partner at Ballard Spahr in Los Angeles who works on restructuring matters for restaurants, told Clark. "They're worried about what the future looks like, on a short-term basis." There will be issues of insurance and labor and employment that will emerge from the pandemic. But for now, Ganz said, restaurant and hotel operators are working with their legal departments and outside counsel to manage their debt service in hopes of emerging from the pandemic ready to get back to something resembling business as usual.

LAB RAT? - Latham & Watkins and Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner filed a patent suit Tuesday in Illinois Northern District Court on behalf of AbbVie and against Iceland-based Alvotech. The complaint accuses the defendant of selling "copycat" versions of Abbvie's Humira that it developed with the help of an ex-AbbVie employee who allegedly emailed himself manufacturing trade secrets before leaving the plaintiff to join Alvotech. "Alvotech seeks not only to copy and to profit from the results of AbbVie's innovative manufacturing work, but also has shown a willingness to take improper shortcuts in doing so," the complaint alleges. Counsel have not yet appeared for the defendants. The case is 1:21-cv-02258, AbbVie Inc. et al v. Alvotech hf. Stay up on the latest deals and litigation with the new Law.com Radar.

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