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Editorial
fortuna favet fortibus
ISSUE 22.03
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JUNE
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Tim Wilbur
SENIOR EDITOR
Elizabeth Raymer
EDITOR
Zena Olijnyk
PRODUCTION EDITOR
Patricia Cancilla
WRITERS
Aidan Macnab, Lucy Saddleton, Bernise Carolino
DESIGNER
Ace Dequina
PRESIDENT
Tim Duce
VP, MEDIA & CLIENT STRATEGY
Dane Taylor
SENIOR BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
Steffanie Munroe
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
Lynda Fenton
NATIONAL ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE
Abhiram Prabhu
CUSTOMER SUCCESS MANAGER
Amie Suttie
amie.suttie@keymedia.com
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T
he pandemic has upended many things, but nowhere is this more
evident than in health-care delivery. To describe what health sciences are
experiencing as revolutionary is not an overstatement.
Corporate lawyers who represent health and health tech companies have
never been busier with IPOs, mergers and acquisitions.
"It's been a phenomenal year in 2020, and we certainly expect the same for
2021," says Vanessa Grant at Norton Rose Fulbright LLP (p. 4).
Health tech IPOs are on a tear. Quebec-based Repare erapeutics, a
clinical-stage precision oncolog y company, raised US$253 million in its
IPO on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. Two other Canadian biomed
companies did likewise; Hamilton, Ont.-based Fusion Pharmaceuticals and
Vancouver's AbCellera Biologics Inc. AbCellera's IPO pushed the total value
of Canadian IPOs in 2020 to $5.72 billion, taking the country's IPO market
to its highest level since 2014.
Along with the investor interest, there have been rapid technological
innovations on the ground.
"All of a sudden, we're all way more comfortable doing things online,
including people of all generations," says Sara Zborovski at Stikeman Elliott
LLP (p. 10). "We're seeing a ton of new products, an increase in disease
prevention technologies and lots of transactions in the M&A space."
Along with these innovations is a dramatic change in the rules for how
virtual health care is delivered and billed.
Governments are revisiting billing codes, the scope of practice,
compensation for digital health-care delivery and professional statutes for
health-care professionals, says Laura Weinrib at Blake Cassels & Graydon
LLP (p. 10). Ontario has enacted new billing codes for providing remote
advice, and Alberta has already announced its plan to continue funding
remote care in many circumstances.
Apart from the human toll of the pandemic, though, COVID-19 has a
dark side for the health-care sector. Burnout is prevalent among health
professionals, and hospitals are delaying non-emergent care to prioritize
COVID. An overreliance on virtual care can also result in a missed diagnosis
since in-person meetings can uncover other symptoms and issues.
Yet the revolution is here, and the lawyers who work in the health sciences
industry are ready and able to help their clients navigate the uncertainty.
Tim Wilbur, Editor-in-Chief
Navigating the health
sciences revolution
