Scientist pleads guilty to stealing GSK trade secrets in China
A former GSK researcher has pleaded guilty to conspiring to steal trade secrets, in what prosecutors said was a scheme to benefit a Chinese pharmaceutical company.
Yu Xue entered a guilty plea on Friday, August 31, before the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Sentencing has been set for December 18.
Xue and two associates (Tao Li and Yan Me) founded Renopharma, a China-based company aimed at researching and developing anti-cancer drugs. Renopharma received financial support and subsidies from the Chinese government, according to prosecutors.
While setting up the company, Xue was employed as a scientist at GSK and worked on developing biopharmaceutical products.
According to the US Department of Justice (DoJ), Xue sent a substantial number of GSK’s scientific documents, some of which contained the company’s trade secrets, to Renopharma.
The documents contained “information on biopharmaceutical products under development, GSK research data, and GSK processes regarding the research, development, and manufacturing of biopharmaceutical products”, said the DoJ.
In January 2016 the FBI arrested Li and seized his computer, which contained GSK’s trade secrets and confidential information.
US attorney William McSwain said: “Xue used her position at GSK to steal valuable trade secrets to benefit a company bankrolled by the Chinese government.”
He added: “This sort of economic warfare presents a danger to our economic security, jeopardises America’s position as a global leader in innovation, and will not be tolerated.”
In July, a former DuPont employee pleaded guilty to stealing trade secrets from what is the world’s largest chemicals company.
Last month, two Chinese nationals were charged with conspiracy to steal rice technology from US-based biotechnology company Ventria Bioscience.
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