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17 June 2021AmericasRory O'Neill

No payday for GSK over stolen trade secrets

Two former GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) researchers do not have to pay restitution for stealing the drugmaker’s trade secrets, a Pennsylvania court has ruled.

Yu Xue pled guilty to stealing confidential drug development files from her former employer in 2018, with fellow ex-GSK researcher Tao Li pleading guilty the following year. Prosecutors alleged that they had carried out the theft to benefit Renopharma, a Chinese company “bankrolled by the Chinese government,” classing it as “economic warfare”.

But Yu and Li will not be required to pay any restitution to GSK for the theft, as the government failed to establish a monetary loss to the company in court.

The government had sought restitution in excess of $1 billion, derived from the “fair market value” of the stolen information. But according to the court, the government was unable to prove this was the actual loss suffered by GSK as a result of the theft.

The opinion issued this week elaborates on the court’s reasoning for denying restitution, an order it issued last month. It also clarified that GSK is not entitled to recover legal costs it incurred during proceedings.

According to the court, the underlying law is “contradictory” in part, and only entitles parties to recover legal costs where they have suffered a physical harm or monetary loss.

Last month, the court sentenced Yu to serve eight months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release and imposed a fine of $20,000.

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More on this story

Americas
10 July 2019   US authorities are seeking the extradition of a Chinese researcher from Switzerland for his part in a conspiracy to steal trade secrets from British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline.
Americas
24 December 2020   A US federal appeals court has upheld a 42-month prison sentence for an ex-employee of DuPont Industrial Biosciences who stole trade secrets from the firm.

More on this story

Americas
10 July 2019   US authorities are seeking the extradition of a Chinese researcher from Switzerland for his part in a conspiracy to steal trade secrets from British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline.
Americas
24 December 2020   A US federal appeals court has upheld a 42-month prison sentence for an ex-employee of DuPont Industrial Biosciences who stole trade secrets from the firm.