Experienced life sciences lawyer has done licensing deals in China, India.

Latham & Watkins has announced that Aaron Gardner has joined the firm’s New York office as a partner in the corporate department and as a member of the healthcare and life sciences practice group. Gardner focuses his practice on M&A and licensing transactions across the life sciences industry.

Aaron is a welcome addition to the New York office as well as the healthcare and life sciences practice group,” said Marc Jaffe , office managing partner of Latham & Watkins’ New York office. “His broad transactional experience, diverse skillset, and unique perspective will complement our team, and be an asset to clients in New York and around the globe.”

Gardner represents pharmaceutical, biotechnology, consumer nutrition and medical device companies, and their investors, on a wide range of commercial transactions, including licenses, collaborations, product divestitures, option transactions, carve-outs, joint ventures, strategic alliances, and mergers and acquisitions. His experience covers the full span of the product life cycle, as well as various therapeutic areas and modalities.

Judith Hasko vice chair of Latham’s healthcare and life sciences practice, said: “Aaron has impressive depth and versatility across complex transactional matters, which distinguishes him from others in the field. The synergies between his practice and our cutting-edge life sciences offerings make him a strong fit for our dynamic team. Aaron’s arrival also reinforces our commitment to growing with our life sciences clients, providing them the best possible service, and ensuring we stay ahead of industry trends.”

Gardner’s experience includes representing Sanofi in a collaboration with Innovent Biologics, , a China-based biopharmaceutical company, to accelerate the development and commercialization of oncology medicines for patients in China with difficult-to-treat cancers, and representing AstraZeneca in agreements to fund and globally distribute the University of Oxford's potential Covid-19 vaccine , as well as establishing its global manufacturing and supply chain for the vaccine, including agreements with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, Gavi the Vaccine Alliance, the Serum Institute of India, and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority in the United States, as well as the governments of Germany, France, Italy, and the Netherlands.Gardner joins Latham from Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer in New York.