Our lawyers work at the intersection of technology, commerce, and law, helping clients develop and commercialize newer, safer, and better ways of achieving plant vitality, pest control, and animal breeding.
Why B&D?
Our biotechnology and pesticide team is specialized, focused, and nimble. We take a nuanced look at each company’s objectives before recommending or acting, and our interdisciplinary approach helps companies address cutting-edge issues where agriculture, livestock, pesticides, and biotechnology converge with the law.
Diversity and novelty are issues we deal with daily. Drawing on our broad and deep environmental experience, we not only advise on which agencies will regulate products and how but we also help companies ready their products for market and vigorously pursue approvals. We work with clients through all phases of new product development and testing; obtaining multi-jurisdictional registrations; applying for additional uses or changes to existing products; and addressing environmental issues in transactions that involve buying or selling all or some of their technology, product, or company.
When intervening in an Environmental Protection Agency or agency lawsuit, we are credible, dependable, and professional, and work to avoid misunderstandings and unnecessary litigation.
We represent clients in data compensation negotiations, and, when necessary, in regulatory agency petition proceedings and arbitrations mandated by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), as well as similar state and international laws. To facilitate our clients’ global footprints, we maintain a highly sophisticated and knowledgeable worldwide network of experts who focus on both economic and regulatory pesticide issues.
In defending federal or state product approvals against non-governmental organization claims or other food safety interests, we are aggressive and tough when needed, yet careful in considering each party’s perspective. We know the result our client wants, and we know how to get there; through the courts, mediation, or settlement.
Clients
Our clients consist of companies that research, develop, manufacture, distribute, or use seeds, crops, trees, livestock, and pesticides. Our clients range from citrus growers and animal breeders to consumer product sales operators and retailers that sell pesticides and insecticides, and manufacturers that use industrial biocides.
We work with subsectors of farmers, investors, industry stakeholders, and entrepreneurs who are innovating across agricultural disciplines in beef, dairy, row crop, permanent crop, aquaculture, forestry, and fishery.
We often represent companies and task forces (some involving dozens of companies) required to meet data requirements, including negotiations with government officials over the scope of those requirements and with other applicants and registrants regarding data development and sharing costs.
Because biotechnology and pesticides are often wholly intertwined, some of our client companies that develop and sell seeds also produce compatible pesticides. Our job is to make complexity and excellence accessible and ensure clients have all the information and support they need to succeed.
Focus
A large part of our practice involves data compensation issues, where we help independent companies protect their rights and their data around the world.
In unique cases, we work with companies in multi-track efforts to develop, test, and register their technology or product simultaneously. We address layered and duplicate agency statutes in advance to help clients move their product to market as efficiently as possible.
Our focus also extends to the area of genome editing. As we anticipate significant opportunities for both established and new enterprises, we are committed to monitoring this area where it intersects with the law and to passing helpful information to our clients.
On the transactional side of biotech deals, our team works with buyers of companies to obtain data and proper licenses so they can begin operating on day one. For companies selling their business or divesting particular parts, we help them get data and licenses into the right hands to successfully close the deal.
Often, we draw on the specific expertise of other Beveridge & Diamond environmental lawyers in various environmental disciplines in order to meet client objectives with the least disruption to their enterprise.
