Former Genentech staff accused of giving drug secrets to Taiwanese rival
- Pharmaceutical companies vie for bigger share of booming Chinese market in biosimilar drugs
- Genentech files its own civil suit against accused, saying their actions threaten innovation and fair competition
Former employees of US-based biotech firm Genentech were charged in the United States with stealing trade secrets from the company to help Taiwan-based JHL Biotech sell similar drugs.
Xanthe Lam, a principal scientist at the Roche subsidiary from 1986 until last year, is accused along with her husband, Allen Lam, of conspiring to steal data related to Pulmozyme, a treatment for the lung disorder cystic fibrosis, and Roche’s top-selling cancer drugs, Rituxan, Herceptin and Avastin.
Family friend John Chan – who was hired by JHL with help from Xanthe Lam – is also accused.
The charges, in the state of California, were made as China emerges as a profitable market for the drugs. Daniel O’Day, Roche’s pharma chief, said that while sales were falling in Europe as a result of cheaper formulations known as biosimilars, demand in China had increased.
According to the charges, JHL Biotech is making biosimilars of the Genentech drugs. JHL Biotech, which was founded in 2012, is planning a Hong Kong shares sale as early as next year.