Khaitan & Co.‘s cross practice offering provides a full service in these sectors; from IP and regulatory regimes to corporate, commercial contracts, tax and competition. This wide-ranging service is helmed by the team heads – Bharat Anand, Aditya Patni and Anand Mehta who attract an impressive range of clients including foreign and Indian corporates, funds, start-ups and social business enterprises. The team is able to keep clients appraised of the developments and risks in the sectors and so guide them through strategic decisions.

Nishith Desai Associates is one of the pre-eminent firms offering a comprehensive suite of expertise to pharma, healthcare, medical device and biotech companies. Its clients range from major India-based companies to US, Singaporean and European multi-nationals. Its full-service expertise covers IP, regulatory, clinical trial and ethics issues to M&A, JVs, venture capital investments and litigation. Dr Milind Antani who is considered ‘a genuine star in the health sector’ in addition to being highly recommended and in demand for life sciences, leads the practice together with Gowree Gokhale who has some 20 years of experience on the commercial and IP fronts. An extensive team includes Eshika Phadke who provide a diverse range of commercial and regulatory expertise and Alipak Banerjee for litigation.

The breadth of its know-how and depth of team renders Spice Route Legal a go-to firm. The practice is headed by Praveen Raju, whose focus is corporate law, M&A, JVs and related commercial contract such as licences. The practice serves international clients in all the life sciences sectors, healthcare/healthtech, pharma and those who invest in them. Mathew Chacko has a well-established practice representing healthcare/hospital and biotech companies, particularly in M&A and PE deals that revolve around technology, data, and intellectual property matters. He also advises on the many regulatory issues. Aadya Misra is a data protection and cybersecurity specialist who devotes a significant amount of her time to assisting clients in the data-heavy life sciences and healthcare industries while Renuka Abraham is a corporate and regulatory specialist who assists pharmaceutical, biotech, medical device and health-tech clients. At the senior associate level, Swarna Jain is a key team member with specialisms in the food, cosmetics and nutraceuticals sectors.

AZB & Partners offers a full service to life sciences and healthcare companies. Expertise ranges from regulatory regimes and clinical trials through to corporate, data protection, marketing and e-pharmacies/tele-medicine. In Mumbai, Nandan Pendsey‘s extensive skills encompass all aspects of life sciences, the myriad regulatory regimes and IP commercialisation. He is also an expert in the various laws governing the importation of seeds and the requirements of the Biodiversity Act. Anand Shah (Mumbai) applies his skills in the M&A, private equity, and corporate commercial spaces while Sumit Ghoshal in Delhi has a deep background in the healthcare sector and is increasingly advising on digital healthcare in addition to the laws on medical devices and their pricing.

Based in Noida, Ashwin Sapra heads the pharma and healthcare practice at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas. His extensive international experience encompasses IP, drug and medical device regulatory and compliance affairs, transactions and anti-corruption cases. Akila Agrawal, who heads the M&A practice, has some decades of experience in M&A, joint ventures and PE investments; she routinely works on acquisitions, disposals, takeover offers, delistings and SEBI issues. Biplab Lenin specialises in pharma, healthcare and nutraceuticals - he has a biotech background and so offers clients a blend of technical and corporate skills.

An extensive team at DSK Legal provides its clients with a comprehensive range of corporate services from mergers and acquisitions through to post-acquisition integrations and structurings. This is provided together with a range of financing advice, obtaining governmental approvals and regulatory matters. Managing partner Anand Desai is well known for his extensive negotiation and litigation skills while Hemang Parekh is a trusted advisor for complex mergers and acquisitions and private equity ventures. His clientele includes those from healthcare, pharmaceuticals, telecoms, e-commerce, food and agriculture. Other key practitioners include corporate specialist Ajay Shaw, Rishi Anand who provides a blend of corporate/commercial skills with technology expertise and Gaurav Mistry whose skillset is corporate, foreign investment and securities laws. Nakul Batra and Jayesh Kothari are also corporate/commercial facing partners.

Majmudar & Partners's well-established practice has extended over the past years from a pharma focus to the broader life sciences, health tech, bio-medical and medical devices. The team advises Indian and international companies and hospitals on complex drugs licensing and regulatory issues, financing, M&A, IP licensing transactions and disputes. Neerav Merchant is highly experienced in disputes - particularly those involving IP, in addition to advising on pharma regulatory matters. Practice cohead Akil Hirani has a tech background and so is in tune with new digital healthcare and healthcare/life sciences startups in addition to advising on IP protection and data protection. Corporate specialist N. Raja Sujith (Bangalore) and head of the corporate M&A group Rukshad Davar are also key team members.

The Samvad Partners practice, headed by Vineetha MG in Mumbai and Ekta Bahl in Hyderabad, offers a rich breadth of expertise to clients that includes hospitals, health- and med-tech and pharma companies, and well-known investors. It is also well versed in the innovative agri-tech space. A full range of skills are on offer; corporate structuring, capital raisings, PE and VC transactions and software development in addition to IP and regulatory regimes. The team heads are engaged with industry bodies, for example Bahl is a charter member with TiE Hyderabad and many of the team are also involved with a range of diversity and inclusivity programmes. This substantial team includes key members Natasha Mahajan, Nivedita Nivargi, Junaira Rahman and Nitya Gupta.

At  Trilegal Harsh Maggon secialises in public and private M&A and private equity transactions including takeover offers, schemes of arrangement and delisting offers involving healthcare and life sciences including hospital and pharma companies. Yogesh Singh, who heads the corporate practice group, is a seasoned advisor to investors and financial institutions on M&A, private equity, corporate finance and restructuring transactions on both inbound and outbound transactions. Also key partners, Kosturi Ghosh  (in Bengaluru) handles inbound and outbound acquisitions and joint ventures together with regulatory guidance while Kirti Balasubramanian has over a decade of IP commercialisation  and enforcement experience.

Dentons Link Legal serves an impressive range of local and international/global clients such as medical equipment manufacturers, pharma corporations, bio-medical and med-tech companies on end-to-end transactions from marketing strategies and agreements (including distributorship, supply and integration) to acquisitions, investments and guiding startups through regulatory and financing hurdles. Managing partner Nusrat Hassan and Pradnesh Warke are the driving force of the team and provide this and additional expertise in cross-border M&A, PE work, anti-trust and ESG.

Economic Laws Practice offers a broad range of expertise; corporate, M&A, competition, regulatory, tax, disputes and insolvency. Its core clients are pharma companies, including well-known globals, but also acts for clinics, med-tech companies and healthcare funds/investors. Disputes specialist, Naresh Thacker is a key team member alongside Yashojit Mitra whose focus is corporate and transactional work and managing partner Suhail Nathani who advises on international trade and cross-border issues.