Lowenstein Sandler has announced that Mary E. Storella has joined the firm’s Life Sciences group as the group’s Vice Chair and head of Life Sciences Transactions. Mary will focus on mergers and acquisitions, early and late stage collaborations, licenses, options, co-development and co-commercialization collaborations, clinical collaborations, and diagnostic collaborations in the pharmaceutical, biotech, and other industries.
Storella has over 15 years of experience supporting strategic life sciences transactions, most recently as Vice President and Senior Counsel, Corporate Transactions, at Celgene Corporation. There she led and supported a broad spectrum of deals, including the company’s $67 billion sale to Bristol Myers Squibb, Celgene’s $13.4 billion divestiture of Otezla to Amgen, the company’s $9 billion acquisition of Juno Therapeutics, and its $300 million acquisition of Delinia, Inc.
Prior to Celgene, Storella worked as both an attorney and Executive Director of Business Development at Merck & Co. Inc., where she headed a transaction team on all aspects of licensing, partnerships, and acquisition opportunities. Representative transactions at Merck include Merck’s $14.2 billion divestiture of its consumer care business to Bayer, its $10 billion acquisition of Cubist Pharmaceuticals, and the licensing of Phase III oncology product and collaboration with Endocyte.
“Mary has supported the biggest names in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries with innovative deal structures and creative solutions to their most urgent needs,” said Michael J. Lerner, Chair of the Life Sciences group. “This extensive in-house experience gives her a 360-degree perspective on not only licensing, partnering, and acquisitions, but also on the tax, corporate governance, and business development impacts of these and other complex transactions, and it adds to our already deep, industry-focused transactional capabilities.”
“Now more than ever, life sciences and biotech companies are at the forefront of developing innovative solutions in a rapidly changing landscape,” said Storella. “I look forward to working with Michael and the entire Lowenstein team as we guide the industry through the current challenges and beyond.”
Storella earned her J.D from Pace University Law School and her B.A. from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
About Lowenstein Sandler LLP
Lowenstein Sandler is a national law firm with over 350 lawyers based in New York, Palo Alto, New Jersey, Utah, and Washington, D.C. The firm represents leaders in virtually every sector of the global economy, with particular emphasis on investment funds, life sciences, and technology. Recognized for its entrepreneurial spirit and high standard of client service, the firm is committed to the interests of its clients, colleagues, and communities.
