Manatt Augments Digital Health Bench With Addition of Experienced Regulatory Partner in San Francisco
Yarmela Pavlovic brings extensive experience working with digital health, software as medical device and life sciences companies as they seek FDA approval
Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, a multidisciplinary, integrated professional services firm, announced today that noted digital health regulatory advisor Yarmela Pavlovic has joined as a partner in its San Francisco office. Working with some of the most cutting-edge and innovative digital health, artificial intelligence, software as medical device and diagnostic companies, Pavlovic has unparalleled experience helping healthcare companies navigate the FDA regulatory process in today’s rapidly evolving regulatory landscape.
Following on the heels of Los Angeles healthcare litigator Charles Weir, New York regulatory partner Meghan McNamara and former in-house FDA regulatory hire Jeremy Lutsky, Pavlovic is the latest addition to the Manatt Health team. She also joins the firm’s growing digital and technology group, which is led by venture capitalist Lisa Suennen, a former senior managing director of GE Ventures’ Healthcare Venture Fund and digital health thought leader. Pavlovic, who has differentiated her practice by offering both legal and consulting services to her clients, naturally aligns with the firm’s industry-leading, hybridized professional services model. Based on the West Coast, she serves large and small clients around the world, mirroring Manatt’s national footprint and global client base.
“Yarmela has so many synergies with the firm as a known and successful regulatory leader and counselor in the digital health space,” said Donna Wilson, Manatt’s CEO and Managing Partner. “Her expertise perfectly complements our Manatt Health team as well as our digital and technology group, both of which boast industry-leading lawyers, consultants, business advisors and technologists.”
Pavlovic has a sophisticated knowledge of the evolving FDA clearance and approval processes and the regulatory strategies needed to bring products to market. Representing medical device, digital therapeutics, diagnostic and life sciences companies, she counsels clients in almost all aspects of FDA oversight and has a specialized focus on digital and mobile technology and on medical software and applications. She also has proven experience advising on the advertising and promotion of regulated healthcare products through social media and online marketing more generally.
“We are continuing to grow our leading platform in the digital health space, and Yarmela’s arrival allows us to double down on our already strong offering,” said Suennen. “Healthcare products and services companies at the intersection of technology and health are facing increasingly complex and rapidly changing regulatory processes, requiring expert counsel to plan and engage with the regulatory bodies that make it possible for high-quality health innovations to come to market. Yarmela’s experience will be a tremendous value-add to our already significant capabilities in the digital realm.”
“I am drawn to Manatt’s professional services model and its commitment to providing clients not just legal services, but the capabilities to also operationalize that counsel,” said Pavlovic. “My client relationships are very much a mix of legal and consulting, so Manatt is the ideal next step in the growth of my practice and will help me provide an even wider array of capabilities to both startups and large companies that engage with the FDA.”
Pavlovic earned her bachelor’s degree from Linfield College, magna cum laude, and her juris doctorate from University of Michigan Law School.