June 2023 saw the arrival of practice head Andrea Abascal and much of the life sciences team from Jara Del Favero Abogados, since when, ongoing growth has seen Bofill Mir Abogados establish itself as a leading player in the sector. Acting for local and international clients across the pharmaceutical, cosmetics, medical devices, food, veterinary, agro-industrial and hygiene industries, among others, the practice group (which is ‘focused on finding solutions for innovative businesses’), fields specialists across an array of relevant practice areas, with an emphasis on providing comprehensive advice while attending to the regulatory particularities of differing market segments. The practice handles matters throughout the lifecycles of both businesses and products across the lifescience-related areas, including market entry, public bids and other administrative contracting procedures, and administrative sanctioning procedures and judicial claims, More broadly, it also handles product registration and marketing authorisations, food product advertising and labelling, personal data protection and clinical studies, along with consumer rights’ protection, life sciences-related M&A, the design of pharmaceutical campaigns, compliance issues clinical study review and matters of antitrust and intellectual/industrial property. Practice head Abascal (who also heads up the firm’s public law and regulated markets practices) advises on the regulatory aspects of food, medical devices, pharmaceutical laboratories, cosmetics, biotechnology, and agricultural and livestock services. She is supported by a strong second tier of advisors includes public law director Cristián Franetovic; and senior associates Rocío Vergara (crime prevention programmes, corporate policies & internal investigations); Anamaría Verdugo (regulated markets and life sciences); Pablo Nogueira M (regulatory and administrative law; litigation), and Jorge Tisné N (corporate and commercial law, data privacy and regulated markets). Up-and-coming intermediate associate Andrés Sepúlveda, who ‘demonstrate(s) great analytical and problem-solving skills, as well as experience and knowledge in life sciences regulation‘, is also noted. On the IP-side of the practice the team can also call on Manuel Bernet whose experience includes advising pharma and technology companies on matters ranging from joint ventures and licensing to unfair competition.

The life sciences practice at legal powerhouse Carey has extensive experience in advising companies and corporations from the pharmaceutical, cosmetics, medical devices, diagnostics and food industries at both national and international levels. The group is consistently mandated to incorporate new pharmaceutical companies in Chile before the sanitary authorities, in addition to advising on sanitary registrations, compliance, defence-side administrative procedures, and product liability and data privacy matters. The ‘very solid firm’ also maintains a robust food product practice that fields professionals with expertise in infant milk formulas, food supplements and nutritional products. The team is co-led by Guillermo Carey, who advises pharmaceutical laboratories on regulatory issues and patent infringements; and life sciences, biotechnology and public law expert Ignacio Gillmore. The practice also includes counsel José Ignacio Mercado, who advises on the regulatory side of pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, food and medical devices. At associate level, José Santos Ossa advises on the regulatory, administrative and IP issues surrounding the health, pharmaceutical, cosmetics and medical device industries; Cristina Busquets focuses on the regulatory aspects of food and beverages, as well as animal food; Camila Suárez is an adviser on life sciences, biotechnology and public law; and Mariana Guzmán is a regulatory, pharmaceutical, biotech and public law practitioner.

Albagli Zaliasnik's six-member life sciences team provides regulatory protection services to national and international pharmaceutical companies. The full-service law firm’s expertise ranges from biotechnology, pharmaceutical products, medical devices and cosmetics, to food-related litigation. Providing ‘great availability’, the group also comprises experts in compliance, investigations, competition and litigation, along with technology transfers, advertising, R&D, public tenders, clinical trials, and IP. Recent highlights saw the team assist Mega Labs in relation to investigations by the Instituto de Salud Publica which aim to determine compliance levels with bioequivalence, promotion and advertising regulations. The practice group’s principal figures are: Ariela Agosin, who heads up the firm’s civil litigation and arbitration, and public law and regulated markets groups, and whose wide-ranging practice includes pharmaceutical regulation; and IP, technology and data privacy group leader Eugenio Gormáz, whose experience covers plant varieties, in addition to trade marks, patents, copyright, IT, advertising law and licensing. In the associate ranks, senior Dafne Guerra, who regularly assists pharmaceutical, medical devices, biotechnology, cosmetic and food industry clients, handles the majority of the firm’s pharmaceutical-related public law matters; Gonzalo Bravo acts in civil and regulatory disputes involving the life sciences sector; and Lucas Norambuena's experience includes representing major pharmaceutical laboratories in life sciences-related regulatory conflicts. The team was further strengthened with the arrival (from Baker McKenzie Chile) of the IP-focused Carlos Lazcano as a senior associate in June 2023.

Baker McKenzie Chile's eight-strong life sciences practice routinely leverages the Santiago office’s membership of the global Baker McKenzie LLP network, which facilitates access to healthcare law specialists worldwide. On the regulatory side, the team advises on the licenses required to manufacture, sell, distribute and advertise life sciences-related products. The department also handles complex product recall proceedings, product liability issues, and the antitrust and competition aspects of the pharmaceutical, cosmetics and medical device industries. The practice group additionally advises on IP, data protection, contractual matters, and compliance issues. Major clients include Colgate-Palmolive Chile, which the firm advises on corporate, labour, consumer protection, advertisement and regulatory issues, with recent mandates seeing the team assist Deutsche Pharma with the registration and defence of its trade marks in Chile. Heading up the department, Valentina Venturelli is an intellectual and industrial property specialist who has expertise in the pharmaceutical, cosmetics, medical device, foodstuff and veterinary sectors; and corporate and partnership law expert Fernando Castro likewise has pharmaceutical industry experience. At associate level, Maria Elena Dörr acts for medical device companies, and pharmaceutical and cosmetics laboratories; and Martín Muller advises on corporate compliance and governance matters. Former associate Carlos Lazcano departed the firm in June 2023.

Covarrubias' ‘quality of work is impeccable and the responses to queries are very clear’. Founded in 2010, the IP-focused firm’s broad life sciences expertise ranges from the agriculture, biochemistry and biotechnology sectors, to the energy, forestry and genetics industries. The three-member practice is also home to specialists in microbiology, molecular biology, neuroscience and pharmaceuticals, as well as research and investigation work. The group is additionally active in the regulatory aspects of food, cosmetics and medical devices; and routinely files, processes and attains rights for plant varieties, along with defending such protected varieties before the courts. ‘A one-stop-shop for the pharmaceutical industry in Chile’, the practice recently advised South Korean pharmaceutical company Hanmi Pharmaceutical Co on the filing of an invention patent application. Founding partner Arturo Covarrubias advises on industrial property and copyright-related protection strategies, as well as industrial property litigation involving the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, tissue paper, food, retail and telecoms sectors. In the associate ranks, (non-legal) senior Matías Valenzuela is a patent expert, who ‘stands out as a biochemist with extensive experience in the chemical, pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors’; and litigation department head Diego Bilbao focuses on administrative, civil, arbitration and criminal litigation, in relation to industrial property, copyright and unfair competition.

In addition to its notable experience in life sciences-related regulatory and litigation work, Sargent & Krahn‘s six-member team routinely advises on data protection provisions, as well as clinical trial contracts. The IP arm of full-service law firm Cariola Díez Pérez-Cotapos, the practice is widely respected for its expertise in bioequivalency and biosimilarity in relation to chemical and biotech pharmaceutical products (and how they intersect with IP rights). The group also assists with related registrations, sale authorisations, public bidding processes, and advertising and promotion issues. The team additionally assists foreign pharmaceutical companies when establishing operations in Chile; and it is highly active in relation to the prosecution, defence and enforcement of patents. Recent matters for the group include advising a foreign laboratory on its advertising of pharmaceutical products (including online). Heading up the firm’s patent department, Juan Pablo Egaña specialises in patents, trade secrets and technology transfers; and Cristian Barros M is a highly-regarded expert in IP law and pharmaceutical regulation. In the associate ranks, Juan Francisco Peralta‘s recent mandates include legislative work, orphan drug matters, and patent appeals before the Industrial Property Court; Alejandra Varela routinely advises on industrial property law; and Marta Arriagada is an experienced copyright practitioner.

Particularly well known for its IP expertise, Alessandri & Compañía Abogados’ multidisciplinary team fields experienced lawyers, engineers, chemists, biotechnologists and designers, who specialise in processing life sciences-related IP applications. The group also advises on freedom-to-operate issues, prior art evaluations and invention patent drafting. Co-leading the firm’s intellectual and industrial property team, Santiago Ortúzar predominantly advises on patents, contracts and defence-side competition cases; and managing partner of the technology and IP departments, Rodrigo Velasco A, specialises in the licensing, contractual, tax and litigation aspects of domain names, trade marks, patents, data protection and software.

BACS Abogados‘s three-member team acts for individuals, patient groups and companies on life sciences-related legal, administrative and judicial issues. The group specialises in the legal issues surrounding rare diseases and associated high cost of medication; and it has extensive experience in the litigation of judicial actions that seek financing for treatments involving prohibitive costs. The practice further assists with disputes over health-related insurance, the application of health contracts, and issues between providers and patients. An expert in medical sector work, Esteban Barra Olivares‘ track record includes successfully advocating for constitutional remedies for costly rare disease-related medicines; and health group director María Victoria Miranda Polanco‘s practice includes malpractice cases.