Ex-Pfizer employee charged over trading on Paxlovid data

Federal authorities charge a former Pfizer An employee and his confidant illegally traded stock on Thursday based on the results of a private trial of the pharmaceutical company’s coronavirus antiviral drug Paxlovid.

this Ministry of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission Both announced insider trading charges against former employee Amit Dagar and his friend Atul Bhiwapurkar.

According to the DOJ, Dagar helped manage and analyze certain clinical trial data, while Bhiwapurkar “engaged in an insider trading scheme to illegally obtain funds from options trading based on inside information about the then-unreleased Paxlovid results in November 2021. profit”.

The two men sold Pfizer call options for a combined “substantial profit” of more than $350,000, the DOJ said.

“The allegations in this case involve personal conduct by former Pfizer employees in violation of company policy,” a Pfizer spokesperson told CNBC. “Pfizer is cooperating with the government’s investigation.”

Dagar, 44, of Hillsboro, New Jersey, was arrested Thursday morning and charged with four counts of securities fraud, each of which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, the Justice Department said. He was also charged with one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

Bhiwapurkar, 45, of Milpitas, Calif., was also arrested earlier Thursday and charged with two counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. crime.

Lawyers for the defendants did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Justice Department announced those charges, along with several others of illegal dealing, including one related to the Trump media merger.