Pfizer Inc. is alleging a “soon-to-be-former employee” misappropriated thousands of files, including documents with trade secrets related to its Covid-19 vaccine, in a California federal court lawsuit.
Chun Xiao (Sherry) Li allegedly uploaded more than 12,000 files including “scores” of documents with confidential information to a Google Drive account, Pfizer alleged in a complaint filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. The documents are said to pertain to a broad range of topics, including analysis of vaccine studies, operational goals, and development plans for new drugs.
Pfizer said in the complaint it believed Li was going to Xencor Inc. and that she provided a “decoy” laptop when confronted about subsequent downloads of the information.
Pfizer is seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent Li from using, disclosing, transmitting or altering any confidential information she possesses. It also wants the court to order Li to provide Pfizer’s outside counsel access to her personal Google Drive accounts and all her computing devices.
“Pfizer takes the safeguarding of sensitive and confidential information very seriously. Protecting that information is critical to scientific innovation, ultimately enabling us to deliver breakthroughs for patients,” a company spokesman said.
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