The DIS returned to Paris Arbitration Week on 26 March 2026 with an event on life science disputes. Recent DIS statistics show that the life science industry is the leading user of our services.
Disputes cover a broad range of matters: business combinations that went sour; violations of licensed IP rights; questions over best efforts to develop new products, etc. The players in the market are also diverse: They include Big Pharma with its global reach, to biotech start-ups. What they have in common is that all of them have chosen arbitration as a means of resolving their disputes.
We explored with our international and German panellists the broad scope of disputes. Each of the panellists contributed details of their experiences with one of type of dispute and explained what differentiated such a dispute in the life science industry from similar disputes in other industries. A common theme was that operating in a highly regulated industry, with strong emphasis on IP rights and complex scientific and technical issues, requires tailor-made solutions and a focus on information access. We were privileged to have had two former general counsel on our panel who could provide insights and views on the challenges of resolving life science disputes.
Our format of an open exchange on practical issues with colleagues from abroad with an international audience proved once again to be the right approach to stimulate discussion and to show that there are common challenges that all of us in the international arbitration community are tasked to tackle. The broad experiences that the DIS and its members have made in this field, both as counsel and arbitrators, are a rich resource.
Jan K. Schäfer