Former Malvern Woman Tried To Steal Trade Secrets For Chinese Co

MALVERN, PA — A former Malvern woman admitted in federal court to conspiracy to steal trade secrets and provide them to a Chinese company, authorities said.

Lucy Xi, 44, formerly of Malvern, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal trade secrets from GlaxoSmithKline to benefit a Chinese pharmaceutical company named Renopharma.

Xi’s co-defendants, Yu Xue, Tao Li and Yan Mei, established Renopharma supposedly to research and develop anti-cancer drugs.

In reality, though, the company was used as a repository of information stolen from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). Renopharma received financial support and subsidies from the government of China. At the time, Xi, who was married to Mei, and Xue were employed as scientists at a GSK facility in Upper Merion, which worked on developing biopharmaceutical products. These products typically cost in excess of $1 billion to research and develop.

In January 2015, Xi sent Mei a GSK document which contained confidential and trade secret data and information. The document provided a summary of GSK research into monoclonal antibodies at that time. In the body of the e-mail, Xi wrote, "You need to understand it very well. It will help you in your future business [RENOPHARMA]."

Xue, her sister, Tian Xue, and Tao Li have all pleaded guilty for their roles in this conspiracy. Mei is a fugitive who lives in China.

"This defendant illegally stole trade secrets to benefit her husband’s company, which was financed by the Chinese government," United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams. "The lifeblood of companies like GSK is its intellectual property, and when that property is stolen and transferred to a foreign country, it threatens thousands of American jobs and jeopardizes the strategic benefits brought about through research and development. Such criminal behavior must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."