Fieldfisher has boosted its German life sciences practice with the hire of medical cannabis expert Franziska Katterbach.
Katterbach is joining Fieldfisher in Frankfurt as a partner from German independent Oppenhoff, where she led the healthcare and life sciences team.
Joining with her is associate Nadine Müller.
Katterbach advises medical cannabis clients on M&A transactions, authorisation and appeal proceedings, as well as compliance issues.
Her broader practice covers regulatory, commercial and transactional matters across the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical devices and diagnostics sectors, including product development, market access, distribution and technology transfer. She also advises on digital healthcare models and the regulatory issues surrounding them.
At Fieldfisher, she will link up with Robert Jappie, a partner and cannabis regulatory specialist based in the firm’s London office.
She will sit within the firm’s international life sciences sector group, which has more than 80 lawyers, according to the firm.
Cord Willhöft, who co-heads the firm’s life sciences group from its Silicon Valley office, said: “With Franziska Katterbach, we are gaining an outstanding addition to our life sciences practice. Her proven expertise in the field of medical cannabis and digital care models strengthens two areas that are becoming increasingly important for our clients and tie in perfectly with our existing advisory services.”
Katterbach’s cannabis law expertise stems from in-house roles at two medical cannabis companies. She joined Canadian cannabis producer Canopy Growth Corporation from Dentons in 2018 as director of legal, Europe, before moving to medical cannabis company Khiron Life Sciences in 2019 as managing director and chief legal counsel for Europe.
She was promoted to president of Khiron Europe in 2021 before returning to private practice at Oppenhoff in 2024.
She commented: “The life sciences market is currently undergoing a genuine transformation and medical cannabis, like the digitalisation of healthcare, is at the heart of this development. This is giving rise to entirely new business models, market structures and regulatory challenges that offer enormous potential.”
Katterbach is the fourth partner to join the firm in Germany since the beginning of July. Employment specialist Sebastian Buder also joined on 1 September, moving to the firm’s Berlin office from Taylor Wessing alongside counsel Jan-Mathias Pfleging and associate Fabio Almurtada.
His arrival followed the hire in August of Flick Gocke Schaumburg disputes partner Benny Wünschmann, who launched Fieldfisher’s dispute resolution practice in Berlin. Digital finance specialist Eric Romba, meanwhile, joined the Berlin office from Osborne Clarke in July, bringing two lawyers with him.
Fieldfisher has been prioritising investment in its continental European network as it seeks to strengthen its position as a leading European law firm. Germany was among the markets where the firm reported strong growth in its latest financial results, when firmwide revenue rose 4% to £398m in the year to 31 March.
Oppenhoff, meanwhile, opened its third German office in Munich in May, following a series of hires predominantly from Dentons, as well as the addition of a partner from Poellath.
Last month, the firm said the office had grown to 24 lawyers, reaching its initial growth target ahead of schedule.
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