Melissa Schwartz and Wynn Segall Quoted in The American Lawyer on Groundbreaking U.S.-Cuban Biotech Deal

The American Lawyer, in its article “NY Cancer Center Turns to Akin Gump for Groundbreaking Cuba Deal,” has quoted Akin Gump cross-border transactions partner Melissa Schwartz and international trade partner Wynn Segall discussing the firm’s work to help seal the first-ever biotech joint venture between the United States and Cuba. Under the agreement announced this week, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, based in Buffalo, New York, will team up with Cuba’s Center for Molecular Immunology to conduct research on four potential cancer immunotherapy treatments that were developed on the island.

“The reason this partnership has been so successful is that both parties early on identified principles of how they’d operate and they remained true to them in order to bring therapies to the U.S. and make them available to U.S. patients,” said Schwartz.

Speaking of Schwartz’s transactional experience, Segall said, “It was critical to have the deal expertise to keep us on track through all the noise the politics threw at us along the way.”

That noise, according to the article, included such geopolitical challenges as President Trump’s reversal of an Obama-era thaw in relations between Washington and Havana as well as a change in Cuban leadership, with the first non-Castro to lead the country since the revolution there.

“At each of these junctures, we and our clients and our Cuban counterparts paused, took stock of fundamental U.S. policy and fundamental Cuban policy and were able to determine the essence of this project,” Segall said. “The clear interest from the U.S. side and the Cuban side remained strong.”

Segall added, “I wouldn’t say we were ever alarmed, but what we’ve learned from our general experience is that when a change of law and regulations occurs, you need to approach that very carefully and consult with U.S. regulators to ensure that the understanding we have of the law is correct.”

Looking to the future, Segall is optimistic about other significant projects in the works. “Where there are opportunities for the parties and outside counsel to identify the U.S. interest and to align the purposes and ingredients of a deal with U.S. policy, success can be achieved,” he said.