Newark, N.J. – Schering-Plough Corporation, sanofi-aventis, Johnson & Johnson, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Gibbons have designated a combined $9.1 million in corporate gifts to establish a new Center for Health & Pharmaceutical Law and the naming and expansion of the Institute of Law, Science & Technology Law as the Gibbons Institute of Law, Science & Technology at Seton Hall University School of Law. Details will be announced at a press conference at the Law School on Friday, April 27, at 9 a.m. With this endowment, Seton Hall Law School will become the only law school in the country to establish an academic policy center focused specifically on the legal issues arising from a pharmaceutical company’s role as healthcare provider. Both the Center for Health & Pharmaceutical Law and Gibbons Institute will strengthen the Law School’s resources and innovation in health/pharmaceutical law as well as intellectual property and patent law, areas of particular importance to the many New Jersey-based pharmaceutical companies and the community at large.

• Schering-Plough Corporation has contributed a $2.5 million endowment toward a Chaired Professor in Health Care Regulation and Enforcement for the Center.
   
• Sanofi-aventis has provided a $500,000 gift that will allow the Law School to invest in a part-time researcher and other infrastructure to launch the Center.
   
• Johnson & Johnson has provided a $100,000 gift in support of research, international compliance education, and other initiatives to promote pharmaceutical legal education.
   
• Bristol-Myers Squibb has provided a $5 million endowment for a chaired professor in corporate governance and business ethics. Bristol-Myers Squibb established the Chair as part of a resolution of an investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The company has embraced the opportunity to contribute to the Law School’s business ethics program and has offered the Law School the opportunity to name the chair. The Harvey Washington Wiley Chaired Professorship in Corporate Governance & Business Ethics is named for Dr. Harvey Washington Wiley (1844-1930), the chief chemist for the Department of Agriculture and a proponent of the 1906 Food and Drugs Act and its subsequent enforcement. This scholar will focus on corporate and legal/ethical issues that affect American industry, with a specific focus on the pharmaceutical and medical device industries.
   
• Gibbons has endowed $1 million to Seton Hall Law School’s Institute of Law, Science & Technology. The Gibbons Institute of Law, Science & Technology will allow Seton Hall to advance its J.D. and M.S.J. degrees to better meet the needs of industries facing cutting edge technological and associated legal challenges; to introduce an LL.M. degree in intellectual property law; and to support special events, lectures, and communication efforts.

Seton Hall Law School is a national leader in the study of health law and policy. U.S. News & World Report’s Graduate School Guide consistently ranks Seton Hall Law School’s Health Law & Policy Program among the top ten in the nation. Its Health Law & Policy Program, which awards three degrees, M.S.J.s, J.D.s and LL.M.s, attracts students nationally and consists of one of the country’s most significant collection of health law faculty, including professors who publish and speak regularly on pharmaceutical regulation, healthcare finance, corporate regulation, bioethics, healthcare fraud, and intellectual property. The Law School’s adjunct faculty includes several attorneys from the health, pharmaceutical and medical device industry.

Seton Hall Law School launched an innovative corporate compliance certification program specifically designed for representatives of the pharmaceutical and medical device industries in 2003 and has expanded its course offerings and continuing education programs since that time. With the implementation of Medicare Part D, and the government’s increased prosecutorial attention on the business practices of the health and pharmaceutical industries, Seton Hall Law has increasingly focused its attention on the changing legal landscape of these industries, with particular attention to corporate compliance. These programs will now become a part of a comprehensive Center for Health & Pharmaceutical Law – the brainchild of Patrick E. Hobbs, Dean of Seton Hall Law School.

Dean Hobbs sought input for the concept of a Health & Pharmaceutical Law Center from regulators as well as general counsel and compliance officers of some of the leading pharmaceutical companies in New Jersey. “Seton Hall Law School is uniquely positioned to play an important part in examining some of the most critical policy and legal issues arising from the production, sale, pricing and payment of drugs and medical devices in the country,” said Dean Hobbs.

Fred Hassan, Chairman and CEO of Schering-Plough, said, “Seton Hall Law School has a proud history and valuable expertise in health and intellectual property law. This Center will enable the School to further collaborate with industry, government and academia on important regulatory and health policy issues. We at Schering-Plough are proud to be part of its creation”

Gibbons has endowed $1 million to Seton Hall Law School’s Institute of Law, Science & Technology. This unprecedented gift to a law school by a New Jersey law firm will provide funding to enhance the intellectual property education at the Law School. Gibbons, one of the nation’s top 200 law firms and one of New Jersey’s largest law firms, has long been a leader in the field of intellectual property with more than 220 attorneys and offices in Newark and Trenton, New Jersey; New York City; and Philadelphia.

“Gibbons is proud to endow $1 million to Seton Hall Law School’s Gibbons Institute of Law, Science and Technology,” stated Patrick C. Dunican, Jr., Managing Director of Gibbons. “We are proud to be the home of over 50 Seton Hall Law Alumni and the Gibbons Institute will help our clients face the technological and associated legal challenges that they will confront in the 21st Century. Although this $1 million gift is unparalleled in the New Jersey legal community, the Gibbons’ lawyers felt it important to demonstrate leadership in the academic arena while further reinforcing Gibbons' commitment to the City of Newark -- the home of Gibbons’ headquarters and the Seton Law Hall School.”

The Gibbons Institute of Law, Science & Technology will serve as a forum for lawyers, judges, scientists, and government officials to discuss the legal, political, and social problems that will continue to arise as scientific and technological changes challenge existing laws and legal institutions. Faculty writings will examine social changes brought about by recent innovations in the life-sciences and information technologies.

The primary mission of The Center for Health & Pharmaceutical Law will be to address – through research, publications, programming, and educational instruction – the evolving legal and public policy framework of modern drug and device regulation and practice. Central to accomplishing the Center’s mission is its position as an independent, neutral facility that can bring together representatives from industry, government, and academia to discuss regulatory and public policy issues important to the industry, the government, and the public.

The Gibbons Institute of Law, Science, & Technology and The Center for Health & Pharmaceutical Law will be housed under one administrative umbrella, and students in and outside of the health/pharmaceutical law and intellectual property concentrations will take courses in both disciplines. The programs will collaborate from time to time on a variety of projects, including symposia and workshops. The Center and Institute will be guided in their missions by two advisory boards comprised of individuals from the public and private sectors.

The press conference will take place at Seton Hall Law School on Friday, April 27 at 9 a.m. Additional information on this event may be found at law.shu.edu.

 

The only private law school in New Jersey, Seton Hall University School of Law was founded in 1951, and is located in the city of Newark. Seton Hall Law School offers both day and evening programs leading to the Juris Doctor (J.D.), Master of Laws (LL.M.) and Master of Science in Jurisprudence (M.S.J.) degrees. For more information on Seton Hall Law School, visit law.shu.edu.