Dive Brief:
- A Philadelphia federal grand jury on Wednesday charged GlaxoSmithKline scientists Yu Xue and Lucy Xi and three other co-conspirators (Tao Li, Tian Xue, and Yan Mei of China) of a trade secrets scheme in which the defendants allegedly stole R&D data from the pharma giant in order to sell the information in China.
- Yu Xue was a senior manager during her tenure with Glaxo. She is accused of downloading information regarding GSK's immuno-oncologic monoclonal antibody research, including a anti-HER3 antibody.
- GlaxoSmithKline spokespeople said they do not believe the alleged criminal activity has had a discernible effect on research efforts.
Dive Insight:
More than simply downloading trade secrets (allegedly through the thumb drive and by forwarding information from her work email account to her personal email account and then onto others), Xue is accused of launching a corporation called Renopharma in Delaware which was then used as a conduit to spread the information to co-conspirators in China.
This company was formed with the help of a big cash infusion from the Chinese government.
Xue, for her part, maintains her innocence, and her lawyer has argued that recent federal cases brought against Chinese Americans have been "vastly overstated."
"We are aware of this issue and have been cooperating fully with the U.S. authorities," a GlaxoSmithKline spokesperson told the Inquirer. "While we're limited on what we can say about this ongoing investigation beyond the details in the indictment, we do not believe the breach has had any material impact on the company's business or R&D activity."