Based in its Basel, Switzerland HQ, Jacob is the global head of antitrust at Sandoz, a world leading generic and biosimilars company. Jacob advises on all antitrust issues arising in Sandoz’ business operations including antitrust compliance, advocacy, policy, investigations, M&A and more.

Jacob joined Sandoz in October 2023 from Takeda Pharmaceuticals, where he had a dual role as head of legal, Nordics and head of antitrust Europe, based in Stockholm. Jacob came to Takeda as a result of its acquisition of Shire in 2019, having joined Shire in 2016 after relocating back to Sweden from the UK where he had been with GSK as its London HQ-based assistant general counsel, primarily responsible for competition law matters. Prior to joining GSK in 2008, he held various senior in-house roles after moving to the UK in 2000.

A Swedish national, he started his career with the Swedish Competition Authority, serving for four years before joining a global law firm in Stockholm to practice competition law. Jacob earned his Swedish law degree at Uppsala University and an LLM in European law at the University of Essex. He has taught competition law at Swedish universities and written several books and articles on the subject. Jacob is also a regular speaker at various international competition law conferences.

Laetitia brings over two decades of diverse experience spanning various industries, with a commendable 17 years dedicated to the pharmaceuticals and medical device sector. Her expertise extends to steering and overseeing intricate multi-jurisdictional operations, including the orchestration of global multimillion-dollar M&A transactions, licensing agreements, and collaborative partnerships.

In her current role at Egetis Therapeutics, where she assumed responsibilities in December 2023, Laetitia manages the global legal and compliance functions, as well as enterprise risk management. Prior to this, she played a pivotal role in the Legal operations and Corporate Development at AM-Pharma. Her professional journey also includes significant contributions at UCB as the global Associate General Counsel for BD, M&A, and Antitrust, as well as the Legal Director for Emerging Markets EMEA, Central European Region, and Benelux at Zoetis (formerly Pfizer's animal health division). Laetitia has also spearheaded the EMEA legal department for the Abbott Vascular division at Abbott. Beyond the healthcare realm, she held notable global positions at the Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group and in the automotive division (Wabco) at American Standard.

Laetitia holds qualifications as a lawyer in both the UK and Belgium, showcasing her extensive international experience. Renowned for her insights, she is a regular speaker at various legal conferences, contributing her wealth of knowledge and expertise to the legal community.

Aida Sandulache is a legal professional with 23 years’ experience, out of which over 13 years leading legal and compliance departments within Romanian subsidiaries of two important pharmaceutical companies.

She graduated Law at Bucharest University and holds a Master of Arts in Economics for Competition Law at King’s College London and a Professional Master in European and International Business Law at University Pantheon I Sorbonne.

She was shortlisted in 2020 by the European Counsel Awards for Regulatory (Non-financial Services) and in 2023 by the LMG Life Sciences Awards EMEA for General Counsel of the Year.

Avantika provides expert economic advice on competition matters and commercial disputes, including antitrust and damages litigation. She has advised clients in relation to mergers, horizontal and vertical agreements, and abuse of dominance, including in the context of private litigation and investigations by the European Commission and other competition authorities.

Avantika has acted as an expert in antitrust and damages litigation and in wider commercial disputes before the High Court in England, the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal, and courts in Ireland and the Netherlands. She has broad sectoral experience, with specific expertise in the life sciences and technology sectors and in digital and intellectual property issues. She is listed in The International Who’s Who of Competition Lawyers & Economists and is an active contributor to policy discussions through regular publications and speaking engagements.

Brian leads the Antitrust, Competition and Trade Team. He is an experienced and trusted competition law adviser, having practised exclusively in the field of EU, UK and international competition law and merger control for 30 years.

Brian’s leadership and expertise were acknowledged most recently by receiving the commended award in the Competition & Regulatory category at The Lawyer Awards 2022; winning “Competition Team of the Year” at the Legal Business Awards 2020; and being shortlisted at The Lawyer Awards 2024 for one of his matters. Ranked as leading individual for competition law in Chambers and Partners UK since 2005. Named one of the Top 10 Prominent UK Competition Lawyers Dominating 2023 (Business Today Lawyer Awards), ranked as a leading individual in Legal 500 and a Global Leader in Who’s Who Legal. He has dual UK / European citizenship and is dual qualified - Solicitor, England and Wales, and Advocaat, Dutch Brussels bar (A list).

Testimonials include:

“Brian Sher is the top pharma and competition litigator in London bar none.” – Legal 500 UK: London, Dispute Resolution, Competition Litigation 2025 “Every word he says is measured and impactful.” – Chambers and Partners UK: London Competition Law 2025 “Brian Sher has a great breadth of experience and a calm, persuasive manner that plays well with regulators.” – Chambers and Partners UK: London, Competition Law 2025 “Standout performer, with enormous experience and great judgement.” – Legal 500 UK: London, EU and Competition 2025 “Brilliant competition lawyer...immensely experienced.” – Chambers and Partners UK: London Competition Law 2023 “Indefatigable in serving his clients.” – Legal 500 UK: London, Dispute Resolution, Competition Litigation 2022 “Quite exceptional. He is an extremely good lawyer: clever, thoughtful, and he has good business and economic judgement.” – Chambers and Partners UK: London, Competition Law 2022 “Brian Sher is outstanding. He has a work ethic which is second-to-none, clients appreciate his unhesitating devotion to their cause.” – Legal 500 UK: London, Dispute Resolution, Competition Litigation 2023 Brian has a strong focus on life sciences and healthcare. He has acted for principal parties in many of the leading UK and EU pharmaceutical sector cases in recent years including for:

Alliance pharmaceuticals, a leading international healthcare business, on its ground-breaking successful Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) appeal following the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) Prochlorperazine competition infringement decision. In a unanimous judgment in May 2024 the CAT upheld Alliance’s appeal, finding there was no agreement to exclude competition from the market. The CAT agreed with all of CMS’ arguments and singled out Alliance’s witnesses for praise. Director disqualification proceedings brought against two former Alliance CEOs also collapsed. The case will impact how the CMA carries out its enforcement activity; and GlaxoSmithKline, the originator, in paroxetine (first and only ever reference from the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) to the CJEU which set the standard for competition law treatment of patent settlements in Europe). Brian counsels several global pharma companies on their pricing, distribution and technology licensing arrangements, their competitor collaborations, patent settlements, joint ventures and mergers.

Brian has deep experience of investigations and inquiries, competition litigation and appeals, and is widely known for his abuse of dominance expertise. He has substantial UK and EU merger control experience, having obtained numerous clearances in Phase 1 and 2 proceedings, both unconditionally and with remedies. He also advises in related areas including foreign direct investment (both the UK National Security & Investment Act and international coordination).

Brian is co-chair of the Joint Working Party of Bars and Law Societies of the UK on Competition Law and a member of the steering committee of the CMS Global Antitrust, Competition and Trade practice. Brian initiated and chairs Informa’s leading annual one day EU pharma and competition law conference, now in its 12th year. He gained two years‘ management consultancy experience and training prior to becoming a lawyer.

Michael J. Frese has more than 10 years of experience advising companies on all aspects of EU competition law and various areas of EU and national market regulation, including the Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act. Mr. Frese represents companies in investigations by authorities in Europe and abroad, as well as in proceedings before the European courts. He has also worked on numerous high-profile multijurisdictional merger filings, including for clients such as Adobe Inc., CME Group, DSV Panalpina A/S and Red Hat, Inc. Mr. Frese has advised on a range of commercial practices, including most-favored nation clauses, life-cycle management, cross-licensing, patent settlements, patent-monetization, rebates and joint marketing. His practice covers a wide range of industries, including pharmaceuticals, digital services, grocery retail, aviation, financial services, and media and telecommunications. In recognition of his work, he has been named to Who's Who Legal: Competition.