Herbert Smith Freehills has added to its European pharmaceuticals platform with the hire of leading Spanish lawyer Lourdes Fraguas to the firm’s Madrid office. Lourdes is an accomplished corporate and regulatory lawyer with more than 20 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical sector. She was most recently the secretary general and head of legal at Farmaindustria (Spain’s national pharmaceutical association) which she joined in 2004.
Prior to that, she was part of the legal department of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in London and was a State Attorney for various government ministries in Spain and agent for the Kingdom of Spain before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).
She joins Herbert Smith Freehills’ expanding global pharmaceuticals team at an exciting time, following the recent addition of partners and life sciences specialists Laura Orlando in Milan and Frederic Chevallier in Paris. The firm’s client base includes eight of the 10 largest pharmaceuticals companies and four of the top 10 medtech players globally, and comprises more than 60 lawyers. The firm’s clients across Europe and globally will benefit from Lourdes’ deep understanding of regulation in the pharmaceutical industry.
According to Miguel Riaño, managing partner of Herbert Smith Freehills in Spain, “Lourdes Fraguas is one of the pharmaceutical sector’s leading experts, so her joining the firm is fantastic news as it will allow us to diversify into a sector that we believe will generate excellent business opportunities, with substantial growth potential for the disputes practice, as well as from a regulatory and deals perspective.”
“We are excited to welcome Lourdes to the firm,” said Laura Orlando, managing partner for Italy and EMEA life sciences co-lead at Herbert Smith Freehills. “She brings with her a wealth of experience and will enable us to strengthen our capability to serve our pharmaceuticals clients in navigating the European market, strengthening our platform across the key ‘EU5’ countries, and bringing enhanced regulatory capability to our client offering in all key areas.”
“I am delighted to be involved in building and growing a new practice area in a firm as prestigious as Herbert Smith Freehills. It will prove a highly stimulating challenge,” said Lourdes.
Source: www.herbertsmithfreehills.com
