Vincenzo Salvatore, Head of Legal Service at the European Medicines Agency, Joins Sidley Austin as Senior Counsel

LONDON and BRUSSELS, June 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Sidley Austin LLP announced today that the European Medicines Agency's (EMA) Head of Legal Service, Vincenzo Salvatore, has become senior counsel in the firm's European life sciences regulatory practice.  He will provide strategic legal counseling on the EU's legal process regulating all aspects of the pharmaceutical industry, including enforcement issues, and data protection issues. He also will assist life sciences companies in understanding and applying upcoming drug and medical device legislation.  He served at the EMA from November 2004 until last week, where he was responsible for defending the EMA's actions in court, coordinating  legal advice and providing legal support and interpretative guidance to the EMA's governing bodies and its six Scientific Committees.  He routinely represented the EMA before the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, both in pharmaceutical and corporate-related legal proceedings, and was the EMA's Data Protection Officer.  

Professor Salvatore will be based in Sidley's Brussels office and will be working closely with Partners Maurits Lugard and Maarten Meulenbelt, as well as Scott Bass in New York, Raymond Bonner and Coleen Klasmeier in Washington DC, and Chen Yang in Beijing, all partners in Sidley's Global Life Sciences Practice.

"Vincenzo is internationally recognized for his deep understanding of the EMA and the complex regulatory and enforcement environment in which the life sciences industry operates. He will be a tremendous asset to our clients, particularly those pharmaceutical and biotech companies that currently do business in Europe or are considering entering that market," said George Petrow, Sidley's Managing Partner, European Region.

Vincenzo Salvatore is Full Professor of International Law at the University of Insubria - Varese (Italy), where he currently teaches EU Law and International Trade Law.

"With a comprehensive life sciences practice in the EU, China, and the U.S., Sidley is the go-to firm for life sciences companies dealing with challenging legal and regulatory issues," said Professor Salvatore. "The firm is strongly committed to providing legal advice that meets the highest professional standards and is coupled with the global presence and business awareness that are so critical to long-term success."

Prior to serving with the EMA, Professor  Salvatore was managing partner of a law firm with offices in Varese and Milan (Italy), where he assisted clients on the implementation of EU law and in litigation before the European Court of Justice.  In addition, he is the author of three books and more than 20 articles on EU and international law.  Professor Salvatore graduated with honors from the University of Pavia (Italy) and with a Ph.D. in law from the European University Institute, Florence.

Sidley has an internationally recognized life sciences practice, representing major pharmaceutical, biological, medical device, cosmetic and food clients throughout the world.  Projects include the development, manufacture and marketing of products regulated by the Food and Drug Administration(FDA), the European Commission, the EMA, the P.R.C. regulatory authorities and other national agencies.  The team counsels clients in all aspects of clinical trials, good manufacturing practices, pharmacovigilance, pricing & re-imbursement, data protection, competition, dawn-raids, product recalls, fraud and abuse, deals and mergers, and more.  According to the PLC Life Sciences Handbook 2012, Sidley Austin is "the only law firm with top-tier life sciences rankings across three continents."

Professor Salvatore will be a regular contributor to Sidley's EU Life Sciences update via Twitter. http://www.twitter.com/EU_LifeSciences

Sidley Austin LLP is one of the world's premier full-service law firms, with approximately 1700 lawyers practicing in 18 cities, including Beijing, Brussels, Chicago, Frankfurt, Geneva, Hong Kong, London, New York, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo and Washington D.C.  This year, Sidley celebrates 30 years in Asia.  Repeating its performance in the inaugural 2010 survey, Sidley received the most first-tier national rankings of any U.S. law firm in the 2011/12 U.S.News - Best Lawyers "Best Law Firms" survey.  Sidley was also named the U.S.News - Best Lawyers "Law Firm of the Year" in both Corporate Law and Securities Regulation in the 2011/12 survey (the first year of such designations).  BTI, a Boston-based research and consulting firm, has named Sidley as one of only three firms to have been in the top ten of the BTI Client Service rankings every year since the inception of those rankings in 2001, and as number one in three of those years.

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SOURCE Sidley Austin LLP