Malvern Woman Sold Monoclonal Antibody Secrets To Chinese Company: Feds

MALVERN, PA — A former Malvern resident and Montgomery County-based scientist has pleaded guilty to stealing pharmaceutical trade secrets for a Chinese company financed by the Chinese government, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced. Specifically, the stolen information involved monoclonal antibodies, which are used to fight COVID-19.

Lucy Xi, 44, was one of four scientists at GlaxoSmithKline's Upper Merion facility who stole information from the company for Renopharma, a company which the group established, federal officials said.

Her sentencing is forthcoming.

“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," U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams said in a statement.

Xi, as well as her husband Yan Mei, was charged alongside scientists Yu Xue and Tao Li. Authorities said Xi emailed Mei a document from GlaxoSmithKline back in Jan. 2015 that contained the company's research at the time.

"You need to understand it very well," Xi wrote in the email. "It will help you in your future business."

The FBI's Special Agent in Charge of the Philadelphia office, Jacqueline Maguire, said that such breaches of confidential trade secrets and cutting edge information threaten the integrity of the American economy.

"We will not permit American research and development to be scavenged for the benefit of other companies or countries," she said.

Xue and Li previously pleaded guilty. Mei remains a fugitive who is currently in China, authorities said.