SANOFI : PRESS RELEASE : Former Research Chemist At Global Pharmaceutical Company Sentenced To 18 Months In Prison For Theft Of Trade Secrets
05/07/2012| 01:17pm US/Eastern
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United States Attorney
District of New Jersey
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Rebekah Carmichael
May 7, 2012 Office of Public Affairs
www.justice.gov/usao/nj (973) 645-2888
FORMER RESEARCH CHEMIST AT GLOBAL PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANY
SENTENCED TO 18 MONTHS IN PRISON FOR THEFT OF TRADE SECRETS
TRENTON, N.J. - A former research chemist with global pharmaceutical company
sanofi-aventis ("sanofi") was sentenced today to 18 months in prison for stealing sanofi's trade
secrets and making them available for sale through Abby Pharmatech, Inc. ("Abby"), the U.S.
subsidiary of a Chinese chemicals company, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Yuan Li, 30, of Somerset, N.J., a Chinese national, previously pleaded guilty to an
Information charging her with one count of theft of trade secrets. Li entered her guilty plea
before U.S. District Judge Joel A. Pisano, who also imposed the sentence today in Trenton
federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Sanofi is a global healthcare company with U.S. headquarters in Bridgewater, N.J.
Among other things, sanofi is engaged in the development, manufacture and marketing of
healthcare products including the prescription drugs Allegra, Plavix, Copaxone and Ambien.
Li worked as a research scientist at sanofi's Bridgewater headquarters from October 2006
through June 2011, where she directly assisted in the development of a number of compounds
that sanofi viewed as potential building blocks for future drugs. These compounds were sanofi's
trade secrets and had not been disclosed outside of sanofi in any manner, including by means of a
patent application.
While employed at sanofi, Li was also a 50 percent partner in Abby, which is engaged in
the sale and distribution of pharmaceuticals.
Li admitted that between January 2010 and June 2011, she accessed an internal sanofi
database and downloaded information related to a number of sanofi compounds, including their
chemical structures, onto her sanofi-issued laptop computer. She also admitted she then
transferred the information to her personal home computer by sending it to her personal e-mail
address or via a USB thumb drive.
Li acknowledged that she made the stolen compounds available for sale on Abby's
website.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Pisano sentenced Li to serve two years of supervised
release and ordered her to pay $131,000 in restitution.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special
Agent in Charge Michael B. Ward, with the investigation.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gurbir S. Grewal of the
Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property Section of the U.S. Attorney's Office Economic
Crimes Unit in Newark.
12-159 ###
Defense counsel: Paul Brickfield Esq., River Edge, N.J.
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