Biologics

Pfizer Seeks Injunction Against Ex-Employee

Pfizer has asked a California federal court for an injunction against former employee Chun Xiao (Sherry) Li, claiming she uploaded over 12,000 files from her company laptop to a personal account and/or device. In its court filing, Pfizer says Li resigned effective 11/24 and reportedly accepted a position with Xencor.

The company says when it questioned Li about her activities, she “initially gave the appearance of cooperation [but] … instead has misled Pfizer about what she took, how she took it, when and why she did it, and where those files (and possibly others) can be found today.”

The court filing says Li lives in San Diego, CA, and was hired in 2006 and most recently was associate director of statistics in Pfizer’s Global Product Development Group in La Jolla, CA.

“Due to the sheer number of documents Ms. Li misappropriated,” the filing says, “Pfizer has yet to understand the full scope of trade secret and confidential information in her possession. While Ms. Li possesses thousands of documents potentially related to numerous Pfizer vaccines, drugs, and other innovations, this complaint focuses on Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine and its avelumab and elranatamab monoclonal antibodies.”

Pfizer asks the court to:

enjoin Li from further using, disclosing, or transmitting Pfizer’s confidential information or trade secrets;
enjoin Li from destroying, manipulating, or otherwise altering any of Pfizer’s confidential information and trade secrets in her possession, including any electronic information such as metadata that show the last access-date and creation date;
direct Li to provide Pfizer’s outside counsel with attorneys-eyes-only access to her personal Google Drive account; all computing devices in her possession, custody, and control; and to any other account or device on which she may have stored Pfizer’s confidential information or trade secrets, as well as to return any hard copy document containing Pfizer’s confidential information or trade secrets;
award Pfizer reasonable attorneys’ fees, costs, expert fees, expenses, and all other sums expended by the company in connection with the prosecution of this action; and
order any such other and further relief as the court deems just and proper.

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