Cooley Recruits Latham Partner to Expand Life Sciences Practice

Alan Tamarelli, a former Merck & Co. attorney, is joining Cooley as a partner in the life sciences corporate partnering and licensing practice in New York.

Tamarelli most recently was a partner in Latham & Watkins’s healthcare & life sciences practice. He specializes in transactions for biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical devices and other life sciences.

His hire adds “breadth and depth” to Cooley’s East Coast practice, Marya Postner, the head of life sciences partnering practice, said in an interview. Tamarelli “has all of the skills and experience and client relationships compatible with what we were looking for.”

Cooley, known for technology clients such as Zoom Video Communications Inc., has been expanding its life sciences practice. The firm earlier this year brought aboard special counsels Christophe Beauduin and Brian Stalter, who together have more than 30 years of life sciences strategic transactions experience.

The Palo Alto, Calif.-based firm in May also hired an all-female, six-member team for its Boston office. There may be “a few more hires” in the works, Postner said.

Cooley, which has some 1,300 lawyers, represents nearly 1,800 public and private life science company clients worldwide. Firm revenues reached about $1.5 billion in 2020, up nearly 17% from the previous year, according to AmLaw data.

Tamarelli, who was counsel and director for Merck’s life sciences transactions team, said in his new role he plans to provide advice on life sciences licensing, partnering and collaboration, and commercial transactions. He said he also provides life sciences counseling to emerging companies, in connection with capital markets transactions and complex mergers and acquisitions.

“I’m looking forward to collaborating with partners,” Tamarelli said, to “accelerate the incredible trajectory of Cooley’s global life sciences practice.”

In recent life sciences activity at the firm, Postner worked on the sale of Forbius, a clinical-stage protein engineering company, to Bristol Myers Squibb, according to the firm’s website. She also advised on a collaboration agreement between Novartis AG and Sangamo Therapeutics on gene regulation therapies for autism spectrum and other neurodevelopmental disorders.