Language:
Photo, Prof. Dr. Christian Burholt LL.M.

Prof. Dr. Christian Burholt LL.M.

Partner
Baker McKenzie Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH von Rechtsanwälten und Steuerberatern

Biography

Prof. Dr. Christian Burholt is a partner in the Firm's Berlin office. He has more than 18 years of experience representing German and international clients in antitrust, leniency, dominance, and merger control law matters. In addition, he is Head of the Firm's German Healthcare & Life Sciences Industry Group and member of the EMEA Healthcare & Life Sciences Steering Committee. Christian has been consistently recommended in various legal directories, including JUVE, Handelsblatt/Best Lawyers in Germany, Legal 500, Expert Guides Life Sciences and Who’s Who Legal, for his antitrust, merger control, pharma, medtech and healthcare work. Christian is admitted to the Berlin bar and a member of the German Association of Antitrust Lawyers and the Network Compliance. He is an honorary professor for antitrust law at the Berlin School of Economics and Law (Hochschule für Wirtschaft und Recht Berlin) and regularly lectures and publishes on antitrust and merger control topics.

Practice Focus

Christian advises clients on all aspects of European and German competition law, often with a particular focus on regulated industries (pharmaceuticals, medical devices, healthcare, life sciences, energy, media, among others). His experience covers antitrust, leniency, dominance, and merger control proceedings before the German Federal Cartel Office and the European Commission as well as advising on and coordinating multijurisdictional merger control cases.

Representative Legal Matters

  • Advised the international pharmaceutical laboratory Servier on the acquisition of the Agios Pharmaceuticals oncology business.

  • Advised the French supplier of industrial gases group Air Liquide on the planned sale of the Schülke Group to the Swedish financial investor EQT.

  • Advised EP Power Europe, a.s. (EPPE), a subsidiary of Czech energy supply company Energetický a průmyslový holding, a.s. (EPH) in connection with the acquisition of STEAG Power Minerals Group. 

  • Advised global pharmaceutical company Lundbeck on the acquisition of Alder BioPharmaceuticals, a company committed to migraine treatment and prevention.

  • Advised ALBA Group in relation to an investment of the Techcent-owning family Deng in the ALBA Group.

  • Advised German hospital owners on various acquisitions in the hospital sector.

  • Advised an international pharmaceutical company on the out-licensing of a medicinal product to a major international pharmaceutical company (transaction was used as a precedent by the German Federal Cartel Office with regard to the requirements of the new value-based transaction threshold).

  • Advised CureVac AG on a strategic collaboration agreement with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) for the research, development, manufacturing and commercialisation of up to five mRNA-based vaccines and monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) targeting infectious disease pathogens.

  • Advised international pharmaceutical and medical device companies on various antitrust matters, including the implementation of price and rebate schemes, supply quota systems, direct-to-pharmacy distribution, actions against statutory health insurance funds (associations) due to joint tendering procedures etc.

  • Advised a major international company on the development and implementation of a new compliance system in the area of antitrust in Germany and the EU.

Professional Honors

  • The Best Lawyers in Germany 2023 edition for Competition / Antitrust Law, Health Care Law, Pharmaceuticals Law, Handelsblatt in cooperation with Best Lawyers since 2019
  • Recommended in National Leader - Germany, Who’s Who Legal: Competition 2022
  • "Lawyer of the Year" for Pharmaceuticals Law in Berlin, The Best Lawyers in Germany 2022 
  • Well-recognised name in German competition law, commended for his "profound knowledge of the pharma sector", Who's Who Legal, Germany - Competition 2021
  • Recommended in Competition Future Leaders (Partners), Who's Who Legal 2020
  • Regulatory Expert Life Science, Life Sciences Expert Guide, November 2018
  • Tier 1 in the Health Sector, Legal 500, since 2018

Professional Associations and Memberships

  • Berlin Constitutional Court - Honorary Judge (Richter des Verfassungsgerichtshofes des Landes Berlin)
  • German Association of Antitrust Lawyers (Studienvereinigung Kartellrecht e.V.) – Member
  • Network Compliance - Antitrust Committee Working Group (Netzwerk Compliance - AG Kartellrecht) – Member
  • German Medicines Manufacturers' Association (BAH) - Legal Committee Member
  • German Pharmaceutical Industry Association (BPI) - Member of the Health Policy and Communication Committee
  • German Institute for Compliance - Antitrust Committee Working Group (Deutsches Institut für Compliance (DICO e.V.) - AK Kartellrecht) – Member
  • Berlin School of Economics and Law (Hochschule für Wirtschaft und Recht Berlin) - Lecturer for German and EU Competition Law

Admissions

  • Germany (2002)

Education

  • Berlin School of Economics and Law (Hochschule für Wirtschaft und Recht Berlin) (Honorary Professor for Antitrust Law) (2022)
  • Specialized Attorney for Medical Law (Fachanwalt für Medizinrecht) (2014)
  • University of Bonn (Doctorate) (2005)
  • Higher Regional Court, Berlin (Second State Exam) (2002)
  • University of Bonn (First State Exam) (1999)
  • University of Durham (LL.M.) (1997)

Languages

  • English
  • German

Publications

  • Kartellrecht und Zusammenschlusskontrolle im Pharma-Sektor – Aktuelle Entwicklungen in den USA mit Auswirkungen auf Europa und Deutschland? – in: PharmR 2023, S. 13 ff. (gemeinsam mit Jann Schmitt)
  • Die Hintergründe der marktbeherrschenden Stellung von RWE im Stromerstabsatzmarkt nach dem Marktmachtbericht des Bundeskartellamtes, in: LRZ 2022, Rn. 255 ff. (gemeinsam mit Jonas Brückner)
  • Das Ende des "as efficient competitor"-Tests? - Die jüngste Entscheidung des EuG im Fall Intel – in: WuW 2022, S. 182 ff. (gemeinsam mit Katrin Kurz)

Presentations

  • Datensammlung und Datenaustausch, Datenzugang – kartellrechtliche Vorgaben und Grenzen
    16.03.2023, Marburg
    26. Marburger Gespräche zum Pharmarecht
  • 11. GWB-Novelle: Wettbewerbsdurchsetzungsgesetz
    01.12.2022, Bonn/Berlin (Microsoft Teams)
    Sitzung des BAH-Rechtsausschusses (Bundesverband der Arzneimittel-Hersteller e.V.)
  • Schwerpunkte des Kartellrechts in der digitalen Welt
    21.09.2022, München
    Association of Corporate Counsel Europe (ACCE) – Seminar "Aktuelle Entwicklungen im europäischen und deutschen Kartellrecht"
  • Fusionskontrolle
    10.05.2022, Düsseldorf
    Association of Corporate Counsel Europe (ACCE) – Seminar "Aktuelle Entwicklungen im europäischen und deutschen Kartellrecht 2022