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Robert Kantrowitz

Partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP

New York, NY, USA

RK
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Why they matter

Kirkland healthcare M&A partner running live pharma/life-sciences and healthcare-services deals for Novartis-scale buyers and top-tier PE sponsors like Altaris.

Background

Robert Kantrowitz is a corporate healthcare partner in Kirkland & Ellis's New York office, focused on healthcare regulatory, privacy/security, enforcement, transactional and restructuring matters. A Fordham Law grad (JD 2017) and CIPP/US-certified privacy professional, he represents healthcare, life sciences and veterinary clients in M&A, data/technology licensing, compliance investigations and data breach response.

Notable deals

  • 2025
    Advised Avidity Biosciences (RNA therapeutics biopharma) on its $12 billion sale to Novartis AG
  • 2026
    Advised Altaris, LLC on its ~$600 million acquisition of Clarivate's Life Sciences & Healthcare business (Cortellis, Decision Resources Group)
  • 2026
    Advised Thoreau on its strategic growth investment in Ensemble, a revenue cycle management platform managing $55B+ in net patient revenue
  • 2026
    Advised Office Ally (backed by Francisco Partners and New Mountain Capital) on its acquisition of Jopari Solutions, a healthcare claims processing company

Call-prep brief

Robert Kantrowitz — Partner, Kirkland & Ellis (Healthcare & Life Sciences)

Background

  • NY-based corporate healthcare partner; JD Fordham Law (2017), CIPP/US certified.
  • Practice spans healthcare regulatory, privacy/security, enforcement, and transactional/restructuring work for healthcare, life sciences and veterinary clients.

Current focus

  • Active on large biopharma and life-sciences services M&A: just closed Avidity Biosciences' $12B sale to Novartis (2025) and Altaris's ~$600M carve-out acquisition of Clarivate's Life Sciences & Healthcare business (2026).
  • Also working healthcare-services/revenue-cycle and healthtech deals (Thoreau/Ensemble growth investment; Office Ally/Jopari claims-processing acquisition), suggesting a broad view across pharma, life-sciences data, and services deal flow.

What he cares about

  • Regulatory/compliance overlay on transactions (fraud & abuse, licensure, corporate practice of medicine) and data privacy/security in healthcare deals — writes/speaks on AI risk in healthcare compliance.

Recent moves / signals

  • Named Lawdragon 500 X (Next Generation) 2024-2026 and Super Lawyers 2023-2025 — rising profile, likely taking on larger lead roles.
  • Deal cadence has picked up sharply in 2026 (multiple live deals in Q2-Q3), indicating a busy current book.

Potential sensitivities

  • Client conflicts: has represented both strategic acquirers (Novartis-side counterparties via Avidity) and PE sponsors (Altaris, Thoreau) — confirm no active conflict with target companies before disclosing thesis.
  • Confidentiality on the still-pending Altaris/Clarivate carve-out (expected to close H2 2026).

Questions to ask

  1. What deal structures/regulatory issues is he seeing recur in pharma services and CDMO carve-outs right now (e.g., data/IP separation, licensure transfer)?
  2. Given his work on the Clarivate life-sciences data carve-out, what diligence red flags does he see in life-sciences services deals generally?
  3. Which PE sponsors or strategics is he seeing be most active in pharma services / CDMO right now, and what's driving their appetite?

Outreach draft

Subject
Quick call on pharma services deal trends?
Hi Robert, I'm working with a private equity team focused on pharma services and CDMO investments, and your recent work — advising Avidity Biosciences on its sale to Novartis and Altaris on the Clarivate life-sciences carve-out — caught our attention. We'd value 20-30 minutes to hear your read on deal structuring trends, regulatory friction points, and where you're seeing the most active buyer/sponsor interest in pharma services right now. Happy to work around your schedule, and of course compensate for your time as a paid consultation. Would you be open to a short call in the next couple of weeks? Best, [Your Name]

Linked companies

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