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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