Biotech company Trigen has appointed its first-ever in-house lawyer with the hire of Eversheds pharmaceutical specialist Justin Penman.

Penman was an assistant in the commercial department of the national giant's City arm and becomes sole in-house counsel at Trigen. At Eversheds he advised on a range of intellectual property matters as well as on pharmaceutical and medical device regulation.

Trigen is a privately-held cardiovascular drug research and development company with bases in London and Munich. The group, which specialises in developing anti-clotting drugs, instructed Bird & Bird on its 2005 merger with German biotech group ProCorde.

Withers, meanwhile, took the lead role on the group's £80m flotation on the Alternative Investment Market in 2000.

The hire comes amid heightened interest in the life sciences sector, with a number of City firms known to be targeting the area.