Charles is a highly experienced corporate finance lawyer with extensive experience in advising biotech, medtech, tech and pharma clients on equity financings, IPOs, mergers, and other corporate transactions.
Charles has acted for a wide range of clients, including startups and university spinouts on seed financings, early-stage companies on Series A rounds, biotech companies on IPOs and secondary financings, venture capital funds investing in unlisted biotech companies, pharma companies taking strategic stakes in unlisted biotech companies, selling shareholders in biotech and medtech companies on private M&A transactions, and public company takeovers of biotech and medtech companies.
Charles regularly mentors companies participating in the Biotech Industry Association Pulse Programme and KQ Labs Accelerator Programme.
“Very, very good and has a familiarity with the [life sciences] sector which meant we could dispense with the niceties and get down to business."
Chambers 2024
“Charles Waddell excels in high-profile transactions assisting with biotech and medtech financings.”
The Legal 500 2023
Expertise
- Equity and CLN financings
- IPOs
- Mergers and acquisitions
- Joint ventures
Experience
Technology & Telecoms
- Advised PhysicsX on its $30 million Series A Round.
- Advised Opteran Technologies, a tech company harnessing algorithms evolved in insect brains to make autonomous machines, on its $12 million seed round led by Join Capital.
Healthcare & Life Sciences
- Advised F2G on multiple venture capital financings, including its $70m Series H round.
- Advised the shareholders of Oxgene, on the sale of the company to WuXi AppTec.
- Advised AIM listed LiDCO on its takeover by Masimo Corporation.
- Advised AIM listed 4D Pharma on various secondary offerings and its merger with Longevity Acquisition Corporation.
- Advised various biotech and medtech companies on convertible loan financings from the Future Fund.
- Advised AIM listed Abzena on its IPO, various secondary financings and takeover.
- Advised AIM listed TheraCryf on its IPO and various secondary financings.
- Advised AIM listed Oncimmune on venture debt and equity financings.
- Advised Puridify on a Series A round and its subsequent acquisition by GE Healthcare.
- Advised the shareholders of Brabant Pharma on its acquisition by Zogenix.
Recognition
Recognised by Legal 500 for Life Sciences 2022-2024
Recognised by Chambers & Partners for Life Sciences 2024
Career
Charles qualified as a solicitor in 1988. Prior to joining Keystone Law in 2024, he worked at the following firms:
- Pinsent Masons
- Fasken Martineau
- CMS Cameron McKenna