Pfizer sues employee for stealing Covid-19 vaccine secrets

The drug maker said soon-to-be-former worker Chun Xiao Li uploaded more than 12,000 files without permission to her personal accounts from her office laptop

The documents contained internal assessments and recommendations about the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine and presentations related to cancer antibodies

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A health worker prepares a dose of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine in Seixal, Portugal. Photo: Reuters

Published: 8:44am, 25 Nov 2021

Pfizer has sued a long-time employee for allegedly stealing “scores” of confidential documents, including some related to its Covid-19 vaccine, as she prepared to jump to a competitor.

In a complaint filed on Tuesday in San Diego federal court, Pfizer said Chun Xiao Li breached her confidentiality agreement by uploading more than 12,000 files without permission to her personal accounts and devices from her company-issued laptop.

The alleged materials include a September 24 “playbook” containing internal assessments and recommendations about the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine, Pfizer’s relationship with its German vaccine partner, and presentations related to cancer antibodies.

Pfizer said Li, an associate director of statistics, tried repeatedly to cover her tracks, even providing a “decoy” laptop to fool it into thinking what she did with the files.

Li “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,” the New York-based drug maker said.