Renata B. Hesse

Litigation

Palo Alto

Renata Hesse has accumulated three decades of experience in the antitrust domain, a field she was drawn to for its blend of advocacy, strategy, economics and real-world business implications.

As the co-head of Sullivan & Cromwell's antitrust group and a former high-ranking official at the Department of Justice, Hesse has played pivotal roles in significant transactions within the pharmaceutical industry.

In 2023, she was instrumental in two landmark deals. The first involved assisting Amgen in its $27.8 billion acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics, a company known for its treatments for chronic refractory gout and thyroid eye disease.

"In Amgen's hands, these treatments will be able to reach more patients in more countries," Hesse explained.

Hesse said the Amgen transaction faced significant FTC scrutiny, including a lawsuit by the FTC seeking to block the transaction.

"Notwithstanding the scrutiny, we were able to complete the U.S. regulatory process quickly and ultimately obtained a settlement with the FTC in litigation that allowed the transaction to close," Hesse said. "Outside of the U.S., we not only had a team of regulatory lawyers that were able to obtain the necessary regulatory clearances, but also worked with our colleagues overseas to navigate the requirements of the Irish takeover rules."

The second major transaction was facilitating Pfizer's $43 billion acquisition of Seagen, which is anticipated to accelerate the development, manufacturing, and distribution of Seagen's innovative cancer therapies.

"For Seagen, its successful acquisition by Pfizer will enable it to speed the development, manufacturing and sale of Seagen's cutting edge treatments for cancer," Hesse said. "These types of transactions are exciting to work on because they have the potential to change people's lives."

When asked about antitrust trends, Hesse said her field is very "in vogue at the moment, which is kind of exciting."

"That means that there is a lot more focus on the advice we give and there is early consideration of antitrust implications on matters," Hesse continued. "We are also in the midst of an effort by the antitrust agencies to reshape an area of the law designed for industries from the early 20th century into one that is capable of capturing how competition works in new areas of the economy. How and where that evolution settles will have significant implications for how we practice antitrust law in the future."