Pinsent Masons has further enhanced its international life sciences and technology sector capabilities with the appointment of Nicole Jadeja in its London office. Meanwhile, Reed Smith announced the arrival of life sciences transactional partner Iqbal Hussain to its global corporate group.

Continued investment

Ms Jadeja joins from Fieldfisher, where she was the co-head of Life Sciences. As a partner within Pinsent Masons' life sciences team, she will work alongside a team of patent litigation specialists. Clare Tunstall, head of life sciences at Pinsent Masons said “Nicole's appointment is testament to our continued investment in appointing talented individuals who enhance our capabilities in servicing our international client base. Nicole's depth of experience and knowledge of the Life Sciences sector will both complement and enhance our offering. We have a growing international team who advise across a range of IP, transaction and regulatory matters and we look forward to welcoming Nicole to this.” Ms Jadeja is vice chair of the IP committee of the BioIndustry's Association and a member of the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorney's life sciences committee. Her appointment continues the expansion of Pinsent Masons' international Life Sciences team and follows the firm's recent recruitment of Michael Finn in the firm's Dublin office.

Deepening the bench

Mr Hussain’s practice centres around cross-border M&A, licensing, equity investments and joint venture transactions within the life sciences sector. Having spent seven years practising corporate law at Slaughter and May, and Ropes & Gray, Iqbal joined Johnson & Johnson, the world’s largest healthcare company, where he served as head of legal for Johnson & Johnson’s London Innovation Centre and was subsequently promoted to legal director for M&A. Delphine Currie, co-chair of the global corporate group, said “It has been our ambition to continue to deepen the bench strength of our corporate practice and to grow our life sciences capabilities in the UK. Iqbal’s technical expertise coupled with his deep life sciences sector knowledge make him a unique hire and a fantastic addition to the firm.” Mr Hussain said, “My time in-house has been invaluable and has given me an excellent understanding of what clients need from their outside counsel. I am very excited to return to private practice with Reed Smith."