Children’s hospital researcher admits selling trade secrets to China

A former researcher at the research institute of the  Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Ohio has pleaded guilty to conspiring to steal scientific trade secrets to sell in China.

The US Department of Justice (DoJ)  announced on Thursday, July 30, that Li Chen had pleaded guilty to the charges, admitting that she had conspired to steal and then monetise one of the trade secrets by creating and selling exosome ‘isolation kits’.

“Exosomes play a key role in the research, identification and treatment of a range of medical conditions, including necrotizing enterocolitis (a condition found in premature babies), liver fibrosis and liver cancer,” said the DoJ.

Chen and her husband, alleged co-conspirator Yu Zhou, worked in separate medical research labs at the research institute for ten years each and they are charged with conspiring to steal at least five trade secrets related to exosome research.

According to the DoJ, Chen has admitted she founded a company in China to sell the ‘isolation kits’ and that she received benefits from the Chinese government. She also reportedly applied to multiple Chinese government talent plans, a method used by China to transfer foreign research and technology to the Chinese government.

US attorney David DeVillers said: “Chen betrayed her employer of ten years by stealing trade secrets from this American institution and transferring them to China after receiving payments from the Chinese government.”

As part of the plea, Chen has agreed to forfeit approximately $1.4 million and shares in two companies.

John Demers, assistant attorney general for national security, said: “Once again we see the People’s Republic of China facilitating the theft of our nation’s ingenuity and hard work as part of their quest to rob, replicate and replace any product they don’t have the ability to develop themselves.”

He added that, far from being an isolated incident, China is implicated in around 60% of all trade secret theft cases.

“This continued economic belligerence runs contrary to the values and norms that facilitate the success of our industries and countering it remains among our highest priorities,” concluded Demers.

Chen and Zhou were arrested in California in July last year.

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