(In Jan. 20 item, corrects in 4th paragraph to show one of thecompanies listed incorporated in Delaware, and two likely inChina)
By Bill Berkrot
Jan 20 (Reuters) - Five people, including two formerGlaxoSmithKline researchers, were charged with a schemeto steal trade secrets from the British drugmaker for potentialsale in China, according to indictments announced by the U.S.Attorney's Office in Philadelphia on Wednesday.
The indictments include charges of conspiracy to steal tradesecrets, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commitmoney laundering, theft of trade secrets, and wire fraud.
The stolen information on drugs for cancer and other seriousdiseases "potentially could be sold for millions of dollars torival pharmaceutical companies and it would also be usefulinformation for a start-up pharmaceutical company," thecomplaint said.
The alleged conspirators established three corporations, oneincorporated in Delaware, and two likely in China, all using thename Renopharma, to sell the stolen information that could beused to reproduce Glaxo products and drugs in development, tocompetitors in China, according to the complaint.
One of the five, Yu Xue, was a senior-level manager andbiotechnology expert at a Glaxo research facility inPennsylvania with access to a wide array of secret information.She was fired Jan. 6, Glaxo said.
She is accused of sending confidential information relatedto a dozen or more products to fellow "conspirators and others,"and also downloading a substantial amount of Glaxo intellectualproperty to pass along as part of the alleged scheme.
A motion aimed at keeping Yu Xue detained that was filedearlier this month said she "stole millions, perhaps billions,of dollars' worth of trade secret and other confidentialinformation from her employer, GlaxoSmithKline, to resell inChina."
"Ms. Xue denies these allegations. She has pled not guiltyand intends to contest these charges vigorously in court," herattorney Peter Zeidenberg of Arent Fox said in an emailedstatement.
The others named were Lucy Xi, a Glaxo scientist who leftthe company in November, Tao Li, Yan Mei and Tian Xue, who is YuXue's twin sister. The sister was used to hide proceeds of thecrime, according to the complaint.
Mei is still being sought by authorities. Tao Li remains incustody, while the other three were arrested and released onbail, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's office said.
Glaxo said it has been cooperating with authorities. "We donot believe the breach has had any material impact on thecompany's business or R&D activity," it said in a statement.
The alleged crimes took place between Jan. 1, 2012 and Dec.28, 2015, the complaint said. (Reporting by Bill Berkrot and Nate Raymond; Editing by TomBrown)
Glaxosmithkline (GSK)