A powerhouse combination of lawyer, patent agent, pharmacist and life sciences star
Combining sought-after expertise as a lawyer, patent agent and registered pharmacist, Alice is a powerhouse in regulatory and marketing/advertising matters, earning acclaim as a “life sciences star” and a “true expert with years of experience” from her clients and peers.
Alice is recognized as one of Canada’s leading regulatory lawyers. She has more than two decades of experience adeptly counselling clients in highly regulated industries like pharmaceutical, cannabis, food, medical devices and cosmetics. Informed by her expertise as a practising pharmacist, Alice has advised many pharmaceutical companies on important issues encompassing biologics, controlled drugs and substances, immunotherapy, orphan drugs, vaccines, OTC drugs and natural health products.
Helping highly regulated companies meet regulatory requirements and maximize opportunities
Alice advises her life sciences clients on a wide range of critical regulatory and healthcare compliance matters. In addition to using her invaluable expertise to help clients navigate federal regulatory matters (including challenging Health Canada decisions) and provincial regulatory matters (including scope of powers for healthcare professionals and insured services), she advises on reimbursement and pricing, product safety (including product recalls) and access to information matters.
In her advertising and marketing practice, Alice helps life sciences companies comply with strict industry regulations while maximizing their efforts in social media initiatives and marketing programs for patients and healthcare professionals, while also navigating privacy and CASL compliance.
Qualifications
- News
- Speaking
- Industry Involvement
- In the Media
- "Risks and rewards with AI in marketing & advertising", (co-speaker: Alexandra Johnson Dingee), Smart & Biggar webinar, March 7, 2024
- "Grappling with the Growing Impact of Artificial Intelligence in Canadian Advertising and Marketing ", Canadian Institute's 30th Annual Advertising & Marketing Law conference, January 17, 2024
- "My therapist is a robot” and other Emotion AI realities", From Idea to Intellectual Property Podcast – Season 2, IPH Limited, June 21, 2023
- "Shining the Light on Dark Patterns. What are they and are they Useful, Unethical or Just Clever Marketing?", the 13th In-House Counsel Summit, Law Society of Ontario, February 16, 2023
- “Dark Patterns: What are they & are they unlawful, unethical or just clever marketing?”, (speaker), the 29th Annual Advertising & Marketing Law Conference, The Canadian Institute, January 18, 2023
- "Digital Marketing & Advertising: The Legal Side of AI, NFTs, Virtual Influencers and Dark Patterns", (co-speaker: Jamie-Lynn Kraft), Smart & Biggar webinar, October 13, 2022
- "Managing IP and Compliance Risks in a Digital World: Emerging legal issues related to use of artificial intelligence and data in digital business operations", (co-speakers: Patrick Roszell, Graham Hood and Neil Padgett), Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) Ontario webinar, September 28, 2022
- “Empower Compliance Across the Business with Tone at the Top”, (co-speakers: Ratika Gandhi, Alcon Canada), Pharmaceutical Compliance Congress Canada, Toronto, Ontario, June 8, 2022
- "Marketing & Advertising Law in Canada: IP-related issues, and other tips and traps”, (with Jamie-Lynn Kraft), Smart & Biggar Webinar, September 28, 2021
- Guest instructor for "The Regulatory Framework as It Applies to Medical Cannabis,” Osgoode Certificate in Cannabis Law and Regulation, Osgoode Hall Law School, February 2021
- "Stay ahead of the competition: Strategies for brand building & advertising compliance in Canada", (with Mark Biernacki and Catherine Bate), Smart & Biggar and AdStandards webinar, June 16, 2020
- "Advertising & Marketing Law 2019: Social, Digital, Online Compliance" (speaker), Ontario Bar Association, Toronto, ON, October 3, 2019
- "Brewers Lectures", (speaker), Toronto, Ontario, September 5, 2019
- “What Pharmacists Need to Know about Cannabis”, (co-speaker: Gunars Gaikis), Pharmacy Experience Pharmacie (PxP) conference, Toronto, Ontario, June 4, 2019
- "Your choice: Cannabis, risks now for future rewards," (panel discussion), Terroir Symposium, Toronto, Ontario, May 6, 2019
- "101: Cannabis," (panel discussion), Elena's Club, Toronto, Ontario, April 23, 2019
- "Legal Topics in Advertising," (co-speakers: Daniel Anthony, Jamie-Lynn Kraft and Jennifer Ponton), Smart & Biggar in partnership with Ad Standards Canada, Toronto, Ontario, April 9, 2019
- "Understanding Publicly Insured & Uninsured Services – Balancing Patient Access and Choice to Innovation," (panel discussion), Canada’s MedTech Annual Conference, Mississauga, Ontario, April 3, 2019
- "Life Sciences Regulatory Webinar" (co-speakers: Nancy Pei and Abigail Smith), Smart & Biggar webinar, January 2019
- "How the Legalization of Cannabis can affect your Practice," (speaker), ‘Nutshell and Soiree’, Toronto Lawyers Association, Toronto, Ontario, January 2019
- "Front of Pack Labelling," (speaker), GMA 2018 Science Forum, Grocery Manufacturers Association, Washington, DC, March 2018
- "Cultivate Your Cannabis Legal Knowledge," (co-speaker), Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers, 11th Annual Conference, Toronto, Ontario, November 2017
- "Compliance with the Canadian Cannabis Industry," (panel discussion), Networking Signature Event, Women Grow, Toronto, Ontario, April 2017
- "Navigating New Waters in International Supply Chains," (co-speaker), GMA 2017 Legal Conference, Grocery Manufacturers Association, San Diego, CA, February 2017
- "Bill C-17," (speaker), Health Canada Regulatory Reforms Summit, Toronto, Ontario, June 2015
Memberships
- Fellow, Intellectual Property Institute of Canada
Interviews
- "Medical professionals' discomfort with digital tech is stumbling block to spread of AI in health care say experts", The Hill Times, March 30, 2022
- "Ask the Expert: How to protect intellectual property," The Globe and Mail, January 9, 2020
- "Regulators toughening up on health-related advertising as misleading COVID claims abound," Canadian Lawyer Magazine, June 10, 2020
- "Highly patentable: how pot companies are staking claims on legal cannabis," The Globe and Mail, April 21, 2019
- "Buying blind: Cannabis marketing restrictions leave little brand awareness in the new recreational market," The Globe and Mail, April 5, 2019
- "OHIP+ changes begin in April," CityNews, March 20, 2019
- "Companies need to be aware of advertising restrictions," Law Times, March 18, 2019
- "Toronto man raises privacy concerns after car dealership employee turns off his dashcams — twice," CBC News, January 11, 2019
- "The PLN Round-up," Pharma Law News - Getting The Deal Through, June 26, 2018
- "Pot Ad Rules to be Stricter Than Alcohol Marketing," The Law Times, January 15, 2018
Publications
- "Thinking of using AI in a medical context? Key issues to consider" (co-authors: Graham Hood, Patrick Roszell), Electronic Healthcare Law Review, Volume 12, No. 4, May 2023
- "Health Canada paving the way for more AI/ML medical devices" (co-author: Ryan Wong), Electronic Healthcare Law Review, Vol. 11, No. 3, February 2022
- "Health Canada paving the way for more AI/ML medical devices" (co-author: Ryan Wong), Risk Management in Canadian Health Care, Vol. 24, No. 1, February 2022
- "Top 10 patent and regulatory things you need to know when bringing a biopharma product to Canada" (co-authors: Daphne Lainson and Nancy Pei), Association of Corporate Counsel, December 2020
- "Canada’s Response to COVID-19: From regulatory flexibility to reimbursement changes, how regulators and payers are managing the COVID-19 crisis" (co-author: Chen Li), LMG Life Sciences, April 24, 2020
- "Cannabis Patent Implications" (co-author: Liu Lei), Lexis Nexis Practice Guide, March 14, 2019
- "Generic Drugs and Biosimilars: Innovator Liability in Canada" (co-authors: Gordon McKee and Jessica Lam), Defense Research Institute, In-House Defence Quarterly, Spring 2017