William S. Richmond

William S. Richmond — Partner, Kirkland & Ellis LLP (Washington, D.C.)

Background

• Healthcare & Life Sciences Regulatory partner who sits inside Kirkland's corporate deal teams on drug manufacturer and biopharma transactions.
• J.D. cum laude, American University Washington College of Law; LL.M. in Taxation, NYU.

Current focus

• Regulatory workstream lead on large-cap biopharma M&A (multi-billion-dollar public company sales) and, notably, growth-equity/CDMO investments — the Curewell Capital/Wilmington PharmaTech deal is his clearest touchpoint to contract manufacturing.
• Active on at least four sizeable transactions announced in H2 2025 alone, suggesting a high-volume, currently very live practice.

What they likely care about

• FDA/regulatory risk allocation in diligence, manufacturing and supply-chain compliance, and structuring healthcare regulatory representations in purchase agreements.
• Client relationships with repeat sponsors and strategics (Novartis, Novo Nordisk, BioMarin, Curewell Capital).

Recent moves

• Four announced deals in Oct–Dec 2025 spanning both strategic M&A (Avidity/Novartis, Akero/Novo Nordisk, Amicus/BioMarin) and PE-backed CDMO investment (Curewell/Wilmington PharmaTech).

Sensitivities

• As outside counsel, he is bound by client confidentiality — he can discuss market trends and regulatory themes but not deal-specific details for non-clients.
• Kirkland's conflicts process may limit what he can say if the deal team's target overlaps with a current client.

Questions to ask

1. What regulatory diligence issues are recurring most often in CDMO/API manufacturer deals right now?
2. How are buyers structuring risk allocation (CVRs, indemnities) around manufacturing compliance in current biopharma M&A?
3. What differentiates a CDMO asset that clears diligence smoothly from one that stalls?