Bloomberg Law
Dec. 2, 2021, 9:05 PM

Pfizer May Settle With Worker It Said Stole Vaccine Documents

Joe Schneider
Joe Schneider
Bloomberg News

Pfizer Inc. said it’s in talks to settle a suit it filed against a worker who allegedly misappropriated documents related to the company’s Covid-19 vaccine.

The drug company on Thursday asked a federal judge in San Diego to delay a Dec. 9 hearing on its request for a court order requiring Chun Xiao (Sherry) Li to return the documents at issue and barring her from using or sharing them.

“Li has expressed her willingness to cooperate with Pfizer and to resolve this action without further court intervention,” the company said in a filing.

Pfizer declined to comment on the filing but said it is still investigating the matter. Adam Cashman, Li’s lawyer, didn’t immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

Li, who joined Pfizer’s global product development group in China in 2006 before transferring to the San Diego area in 2016, uploaded more than 12,000 files to a Google Drive account, the company alleged in a Nov. 23. suit. These included “scores” of documents with confidential information and covering a broad range of topics, including analysis of vaccine studies, operational goals, and development plans for new drugs, Pfizer said.

Pfizer said it believed Li was preparing to joining another company called Xencor Inc. She allegedly provided a “decoy” laptop when confronted about subsequent downloads of the information.

The case is Pfizer Inc. v. Li, 3:21-cv-01980, U.S. District Court, Southern District of California (San Diego).

--With assistance from Kyle Jahner and Riley Griffin.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Joe Schneider in Los Angeles at jschneider5@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Katia Porzecanski at kporzecansk1@bloomberg.net

Anthony Lin

© 2021 Bloomberg L.P. All rights reserved. Used with permission.