Patient data is critical, so is the way you protect it.

With practical, in-house style expertise across governance, risk and operations, we devise specialist, streamlined data privacy processes and policies, designed to help life science organisations ensure personal data is handled compliantly, and with confidence.

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Clients we work with:

We support life sciences organisations in managing data privacy effectively across the business.

As organisations become increasingly reliant on data, expectations around how personal information is collected, used and protected continue to grow. It’s no longer enough to simply meet regulatory standards, organisations need clear, practical approaches to managing data responsibly.

LS Law works with biotech and pharmaceutical companies to put the right structures in place, from governance and policies through to day-to-day processes and controls. Our focus is on helping organisations handle data with confidence while enabling the business to operate effectively.

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Data Privacy resources for
pharma, biotech companies

We develop practical, experience-led resources for professionals managing data privacy in complex, regulated environments. Built by in-house experts, our insights focus on real-world challenges, from understanding regulatory obligations to managing data across its lifecycle. Alongside our data privacy diagnostic, webinars and targeted updates, LS Law helps teams identify risks, strengthen frameworks and make confident, informed decisions.

How does LS Law support and strengthen data privacy frameworks?

LS Law supports life sciences organisations through a structured data privacy framework built around Governance → Risk Management → Operational Control. By strengthening these three core areas, we help organisations manage personal data effectively, reduce risk and operate with confidence in a complex regulatory environment.

Step 1: Governance

The first component of an effective data privacy framework is governance. Clear ownership, policies and accountability ensure organisations understand how personal data is managed and who is responsible for it.

Data Privacy Ownership & Governance
LS Law helps organisations establish clear ownership and accountability for data privacy, whether through defining internal roles or providing external Data Privacy Officer (DPO) support. This includes setting up governance structures, reporting lines and oversight mechanisms to ensure data privacy is actively managed. Clear ownership ensures accountability, strengthens decision-making and enables organisations to demonstrate control in increasingly scrutinised regulatory environments.
Data Privacy Policies & Frameworks
We design and implement practical data privacy policies tailored to how your organisation operates. This includes privacy policies, consent mechanisms and internal guidance that ensure personal data is handled correctly across the business. The focus is on creating frameworks that are not only compliant with regulations such as GDPR, but are also usable, understood and consistently applied in day-to-day activities.
Lawful Basis & Data Processing Strategy
LS Law supports organisations in identifying and documenting the lawful basis for processing personal data. This is critical to ensuring compliance with data protection laws and avoiding regulatory risk. We help align business activities with appropriate legal grounds for processing, ensuring that data is collected and used transparently, appropriately and in line with regulatory expectations across different jurisdictions.
Global Data Privacy Alignment
Operating across multiple jurisdictions creates complexity in data privacy compliance. LS Law provides guidance on navigating global regulatory frameworks, including GDPR and international data transfer requirements. We help organisations align policies and processes across regions, ensuring consistent standards while managing local regulatory nuances, particularly where cross-border data flows and global operations are involved.

Step 2: Risk

The second component is risk. Organisations must understand how personal data is used, where risks exist and how those risks can be mitigated across activities such as research, clinical trials and data sharing.

Data Mapping & Data Flow Visibility
Understanding what data you hold and how it moves through your organisation is critical. LS Law supports data mapping exercises to identify where personal data is collected, processed, stored and transferred. This creates visibility over data flows, highlights potential risks and provides the foundation for effective compliance. Without this clarity, organisations risk processing data in ways that are non-compliant or poorly controlled.
Data Privacy Impact Assessments (DPIAs)
We help organisations carry out structured Data Privacy Impact Assessments to identify and mitigate risks associated with new projects, technologies or data uses. DPIAs are particularly important in areas such as clinical trials, big data analysis and healthcare research. LS Law ensures assessments are practical, proportionate and aligned to regulatory expectations, helping organisations make informed, risk-aware decisions.
Data Subject Rights & Regulatory Risk
Managing data subject rights — such as access requests, corrections and deletion — is a key compliance requirement. LS Law helps organisations implement processes to respond effectively and within regulatory timeframes. We also support organisations in understanding regulatory expectations and preparing for potential scrutiny, ensuring they can respond confidently to both individual requests and regulator enquiries.
Third-Party & International Data Risk
LS Law supports organisations in managing risks associated with third parties and international data transfers. This includes advising on data processing agreements, transfer mechanisms and contractual safeguards to ensure compliance with global data privacy laws. As third-party relationships and cross-border data flows increase, robust controls in this area are critical to reducing regulatory exposure and maintaining trust.

Step 3: Operational Control

The final component is operational control. Data privacy must be embedded into how organisations collect, process, store and share personal data across all activities.

Data Handling Processes & Lifecycle Management
LS Law helps organisations implement structured processes for handling personal data across its full lifecycle — from collection and use to storage and deletion. This ensures data is processed consistently, securely and in line with regulatory requirements. By embedding clear processes into daily operations, organisations reduce the risk of errors, breaches and non-compliant data handling practices.
Data Privacy Agreements & Safeguards
We support the drafting and implementation of key legal safeguards, including data processing agreements, joint controller arrangements and data transfer agreements. These documents ensure roles, responsibilities and obligations are clearly defined between parties. LS Law ensures these agreements are not only compliant, but also practical and aligned with how the business operates, reducing ambiguity and legal risk.
Data Retention & Audit Processes
LS Law helps organisations define and implement data retention policies and audit processes to ensure personal data is only held for as long as necessary. This includes setting retention schedules, maintaining data processing registers and conducting audits to assess compliance. These controls are essential for demonstrating accountability and ensuring organisations can evidence their approach to regulators when required.
Training & Awareness
Embedding data privacy into an organisation requires more than policies — it requires behavioural change. LS Law delivers training and awareness programmes that help employees understand how to handle personal data correctly in their roles. By focusing on practical application, we help organisations build a culture where data privacy is understood, applied and consistently reinforced across teams.

Review your data privacy framework with our 3-minute diagnostic

Understanding your data privacy obligations is one thing, knowing how effectively your organisation manages personal data in practice is another. When you’re balancing competing priorities, it’s not always clear where risks or gaps sit.

Our data privacy diagnostic provides a quick, structured way to assess your approach. In just a few minutes, you’ll gain clear insight into governance, risk and operational control, helping you prioritise actions and focus on what matters most.

Take the diagnostic

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Additional ways we can support life science legal teams.

Working with large multinational pharmaceutical clients, to biotech start-ups, our service offerings are designed to provide you with a breadth of experience and a depth of life science legal expertise.

As organisations increasingly rely on data to drive innovation, research and commercial activity, the importance of managing personal data effectively continues to grow. In life sciences, where sensitive data is central to operations, the risks and expectations are even higher. When managed well, data privacy doesn’t limit what the business can do, it provides the structure and confidence needed to use data responsibly, build trust and support sustainable growth.

3BP required a structured data privacy framework to support its advanced genomics platform and enable collaboration across the life sciences sector. We worked closely with the team to translate regulatory requirements into practical processes embedded into their operations. The result: a clear, defensible approach to data protection, enabling compliant data use, stronger governance and confident collaboration with partners.

Supporting 3 Billion Pairs Genetic in establishing a practical, GDPR-aligned approach to data protection.

Read the full case study

3BP required a structured data privacy framework to support its advanced genomics platform and enable collaboration across the life sciences sector. We worked closely with the team to translate regulatory requirements into practical processes embedded into their operations. The result: a clear, defensible approach to data protection, enabling compliant data use, stronger governance and confident collaboration with partners.

Supporting 3 Billion Pairs Genetic in establishing a practical, GDPR-aligned approach to data protection.

Read the full case study
Avata Biosciences (previously Sapient Therapeutics) required clarity over intellectual property across complex, cross-border collaborations involving commercial partners and academic institutions. We worked closely with their team to draft and negotiate key agreements, ensuring ownership and use of IP was clearly defined and aligned with their development strategy. The result: clear, consistent IP rights across agreements, enabling continued research, collaboration and future commercialisation with confidence.

Supporting Avata Biosciences in structuring clear, defensible intellectual property arrangements.

Read the full case study

Avata Biosciences (previously Sapient Therapeutics) required clarity over intellectual property across complex, cross-border collaborations involving commercial partners and academic institutions. We worked closely with their team to draft and negotiate key agreements, ensuring ownership and use of IP was clearly defined and aligned with their development strategy. The result: clear, consistent IP rights across agreements, enabling continued research, collaboration and future commercialisation with confidence.

Supporting Avata Biosciences in structuring clear, defensible intellectual property arrangements.

Read the full case study
Urgo Medical’s UK business needed a more integrated, commercially aligned approach to legal support without a dedicated in-house function. Operating in a complex regulatory environment, spanning distribution, digital health and NHS partnerships, they required legal input that could keep pace with the business. We established an outsourced legal function embedded into their team, providing responsive, practical support across day-to-day and strategic matters. This streamlined decision-making, reduced reliance on traditional firms and created a more consistent, cost-effective model. The result: a scalable legal function supporting growth, enabling faster decisions while maintaining strong regulatory oversight.

How we helped Urgo Medical create a flexible, commercially aligned legal function to support UK growth.

Read the full case study

Urgo Medical’s UK business needed a more integrated, commercially aligned approach to legal support without a dedicated in-house function. Operating in a complex regulatory environment, spanning distribution, digital health and NHS partnerships, they required legal input that could keep pace with the business. We established an outsourced legal function embedded into their team, providing responsive, practical support across day-to-day and strategic matters. This streamlined decision-making, reduced reliance on traditional firms and created a more consistent, cost-effective model. The result: a scalable legal function supporting growth, enabling faster decisions while maintaining strong regulatory oversight.

How we helped Urgo Medical create a flexible, commercially aligned legal function to support UK growth.

Read the full case study

Learn how we support in-house legal teams

Watch Wendy outline how LS Law supports in-house legal teams across compliance, legal and data privacy, helping organisations navigate complexity and manage risk effectively.

The video gives a clear overview of our approach and how we work alongside clients. Want to go deeper into our experience and background? Visit our About Us page.