Hogan Lovells has expanded its small Philadelphia office with a trio of Pepper Hamilton corporate partners focused on the life sciences and food and beverage industries.

The move gives Hogan Lovells’ Philadelphia office a corporate practice for the first time, adding to the firm’s litigation, regulatory and white-collar defense practices that have centered solely on life sciences. The hires are part of the firm’s strategy to deepen its life sciences, capital markets and mergers and acquisitions capabilities in the United States, Hogan Lovells said.