Healthcare & Life Sciences

Deep Healthcare Industry Experience

Our healthcare and life sciences practice focuses on our clients’ legal needs so they can do what they do best – treating patients and curing disease. Bracewell has a long history in the industry, representing leading names such as MD Andersen, Texas Medical Center, Memorial Hermann, Houston Methodist, The Menninger Clinic and Texas Children’s Hospital.

We represent research institutions, academic medical centers, hospitals, health systems, surgery centers, physicians, physician practices, healthcare clinics, life science companies, non-profit corporations, charitable trusts and healthcare-related enterprises in a host of matters, including:

corporate governance
strategic relationships and partnerships
financing
data security
medical records maintenance
regulatory compliance
tax
antitrust
intellectual property
litigation

Areas of Focus

Healthcare Compliance & Operations

Our lawyers have years of experience, including in both in-house roles and in private practice, handling compliance and regulatory matters. We draw on this knowledge to work with healthcare providers in developing compliance programs that meet state and federal regulations. We also provide guidance on regulatory disclosures and, when necessary, develop corrective actions in response to agency audits and surveys.

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Healthcare Financing & Transactions

We have along track recording of representing health systems and other healthcare entities in corporate and financing transactions. In 2020, for example, we represented Houston Methodist in $900 million in revenue bonds to finance improvements to its hospitals and healthcare facilities, as well as Memorial Hermann Health System in $270 million in bonds. We also are representing Texas Medical Center in a $2 billion development of a 30-acre biomedical innovation and commercialization campus known as TMC3.

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Healthcare IP & Technology

Our intellectual property team represents healthcare providers in all phases of product development, from early-stage funding to exit transactions, as well as in connection with licensing, technology transfers and outsourcing. For instance, we recently represented the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in negotiating a sublease agreement involving intellectual property issues related to the development of new cancer therapies.

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Bracewell does a thorough job and is very responsive from a timeliness standpoint.

Chambers USA, 2023

Market-Leading Engagements

We represent clients in a range of transactions in the healthcare and life sciences sector.

Brazos Presbyterian Homes, Inc. and BHP Holding Co. in the acquisition of Longhorn Village, an entrance fee life plan community in Austin, Texas, through a member substitution transaction resulting in BPHH becoming the sole member of Longhorn Village
East Texas Medical Center Healthcare System on antitrust aspects of the sale of substantially all assets to Ardent Health Services
Harris County Cultural Education Facilities Finance Corporation, as underwriter’s counsel in connection with the issuance of $459.205 million of Hospital Revenue Bonds (Memorial Hermann Health System), Series 2016A, Series 2016B-1 (CP Mode), Series 2016C, Series 2016D, Series 2016E, Series 2016B-2 (CP Mode) and Series 2016B-3 (CP Mode)
Harris County Cultural Education Facilities Finance Corporation, as bond counsel to Texas Children’s Hospital in connection with $355.72 million of Hospital Revenue Bonds, Series 2015-1, Series 2015-2 [7 Month Window VRDB] and Series 2015-3
Hermann Hospital in negotiations with the IRS involving the hospital’s participation in certain physician recruitment activities, resulting in a closing agreement with the IRS that contained detailed physician recruitment guidelines, serving as the forerunner to Revenue Ruling 97-21 dealing with physician recruitment
Houston Methodist, as healthcare disclosure counsel in connection with the issuance of $530 million Houston Methodist Taxable Revenue Bonds, Series 2020A and $370 million Harris County Cultural Education Facilities Finance Corporation Tax-Exempt Revenue Bonds (Houston Methodist), Series 2020B to finance and refinance improvements to hospitals and other healthcare facilities
Lingualcare in connection with its sale to 3M and related corporate matters
Memorial Hermann Health System, as underwriter’s and deal manager’s counsel to JP Morgan in connection with four series of bonds, for a total of approximately $270 million

The Menninger Clinic on all aspects of corporate governance, employee relations, HIPAA, data protection, intellectual property management and monetization, and litigation defense
New Hope Cultural Education Facilities Finance Corporation, as underwriter’s counsel in connection with the issuance of $330.810 million Hospital Revenue Bonds (Children's Health System of Texas Project) Series 2017
New Hope Cultural Education Facilities Finance Corporation, as disclosure and borrower’s counsel to issuer in connection with $59.93 million of Retirement Facility Revenue Bonds (MRC Senior Living - The Langford Project), Series 2016A Fixed Rate Bonds, Series 2016B-1 Tax Exempt Mandatory Paydown Securities (TEMPS-80), Series 2016B-2 Tax Exempt Mandatory Paydown Securities (TEMPS-50) and Taxable Series 2016C Mandatory Paydown Securities (Taxable MPS)
Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation in a spin-off transaction involving the licensing of software to Pieces Technologies, Inc., a healthcare analytics entity that deploys cutting-edge technology to improve clinical and community health outcomes
PreCheck, Inc. in its sale to Cisive, a global provider of compliance-driven human capital management and risk management solutions
Presbyterian Village North, as borrower’s counsel in connection with the issuance of $91.86 million Series 2018 bonds
Tarrant County Cultural Education Facilities Finance Corporation, as bond counsel to Texas Health Resources in connection with $631.105 million of System Revenue Bonds, Series 2016A
Tarrant County Cultural Education Facilities Finance Corporation, as underwriter’s counsel in connection with the issuance of $124.02 million of Retirement Facility Revenue Bonds (Air Force Villages Obligated Group Project), Series 2016
Tarrant County Cultural Education Facilities Finance Corporation, as underwriter’s counsel in connection with the issuance of $130.175 million of Retirement Facility Revenue Bonds (C.C. Young Memorial Home Project), Series 2017A and Taxable Series 2017B
Texas Children’s Hospital, as bond counsel and disclosure counsel in a $540 million tax-exempt bond financing to build children and women’s hospital in Austin
Texas Hospital Network on FCPA policy and procedures for organization and its doctors to participate in joint ventures with various ministries of health in developing countries
Texas Medical Center on the development of a 28-acre biomedical innovation and commercialization campus known as TMC3, which will be a cooperative development between the medical center and four public or non-profit medical institutions, including a world-renowned cancer center and a major public university’s health center
Texas Medical Center, as bond counsel in the issuance of $91.5 million revenue refunding bonds, including the $52.39 million Harris County Cultural Education Facilities Finance Corporation Revenue Refunding Bonds (Texas Medical Center) Series 2019A and the $39.11 million Harris Country Cultural Education Facilities Finance Corporation Taxable Revenue Refunding Bonds (Texas Medical Center) Series 2019B
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center on broad exclusive licensing agreements and equity documents with respect to various issuers, including Intrexon Corporation and ZIOPHARM Oncology; Immatics US, Inc., with respect to structuring the initial round of a $60 million Series A financing round; and OncoResponse, an immuno-oncology antibody discovery company that was launched jointly by MD Anderson and Theraclone Sciences, which led the Series A Preferred Stock round, and which included ARCH Venture Partners, Canaan Partners, William Marsh Rice University and Alexandria Real Estate Equities