Annabelle Bruyndonckx joined Simmons & Simmons in 2013, after more than 14 years at another international law firm, where she headed the Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare group.
Annabelle read law at the Catholic University of Louvain and spent half a year on an exchange program at the Rijksuniversiteit of Leiden. She was admitted to the Brussels bar in 1998 and was a part-time lecturer at the Catholic University of Louvain from 1997 to 2003.
Today, Annabelle is the head of the Belgian Regulatory Affairs Society’s (BRAS) Educational Group, where she organizes training sessions on various pharma and medical devices related topics. Annabelle is also a member of the European Food Law Association (EFLA) and the Brussels Pharma Law Group.
She is frequently invited to speak at international conferences on various topics and has published numerous articles in legal and trade journals relating to various regulatory and compliance matters specific to the Health & Life Sciences sectors. Since 2010, she is a regular lecturer of the European Healthcare Compliance Ethics & Regulation program organized by Sciences Po (France) and Seton Hall Law (United States).
Annabelle’s publications include numerous chapters on pharma compliance and procurement in the Second Edition of the Treatise of Pharmaceutical Law – Marketing of medicinal products for human use : Belgian and European law, 2016 (volume 1) – 2017 (volume 2), as well as notably “Promoting Medical Devices in Belgium” in Promoting Medical Devices Globally, bilingual edition, May 2009, and “Promoting Medical Products in Europe & North America”, second edition, June 2007. Annabelle is also a frequent legal writer in the bilingual newspaper Le Specialiste – addressed to 35,000 healthcare professionals and institutions – where she addresses the legal aspects of various new health topics.
With a legal career spanning 19 years, Annabelle’s practice covers all parts of medicinal products and medical devices’ life cycle from R&D and qualification to marketing authorization/CE marking, pricing & reimbursement manufacture and distribution, advertising, tendering, compliance and liability issues.
Annabelle is fluent in French, Dutch, and English.
Simmons & Simmons is a leading international law firm, offering you access to more than 1,000 legal staff in key business and financial centres across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. We believe it is who we are and how we approach our work that sets us apart from other firms. We set the highest standards for the work we do, meaning you will benefit from the highest quality client service. In building our international business, we have created a closely knit and cohesive network of lawyers who seek to balance local business needs with the delivery of a global service. Our current client base includes a significant number of the current FTSE 100 and Fortune Global 500 companies.
As a full-service law firm, we work across a significant number of practice areas including information, communications & technology, data protection, intellectual property, life sciences regulatory, dispute resolution, corporate & commercial, employment, pensions & employee benefits, EU competition & regulatory, real estate and tax.
In addition to the breadth of our practice, a key commercial advantage for our clients is our focus on specific sectors including Healthcare & Life Sciences (“H&LS”) and Telecoms, Media & Technology (“TMT”).
Healthcare & Life Sciences
With extensive experience gained over many years, Simmons & Simmons has cultivated a market leading dedicated H&LS sector focused team. Among our 140 lawyers, many have technical backgrounds including medicine, pharmacy, biotechnology and genetics. The team’s in-depth sector understanding, and the breadth of practices covered allow us to offer a rare set of expertise in a specialist market. Our active participation in industry associations around the world, combined with our sector focus, ensures we deliver premium quality service to our clients across our footprint. We act for the full range of players in the market, from global pharmaceutical and medtech companies and SME biotechs, to academic and research institutions, which allows us to see and understand issues from different perspectives. Our H&LS Sciences team is ranked as top tier by Legal 500 and Chambers and has won numerous awards, including the Gold Trophy for “Health and Pharmacy” at the Trophées du Droit 2017/2018/2019, Life Sciences Law Firm of the Year in Italy in 2017 and Gold in the “Health & Life Sciences” category at Lawyer of the Year Awards 2018.
