W.B.E. schreef op 19 oktober 2019 12:30:
& vervolg ....
...
Within less than a week things did become quite clear.
On August 13, Pharming had exciting news. From its offices in the picturesque city of Leiden in southern Holland, the Dutch group announced it was entering the immunodeficiency market through a licensing agreement with drug giant Novartis, which would allow Pharming to develop and market a late-stage drug for the treatment of the genetic immune disorder APSD that causes increased susceptibility to airway infections in affected people.
It's alleged that Chiao did not stop there. In mid-September, Chiao was offered a job as Pharming's executive medical director and he accepted almost immediately, according to court documents. He resigned from CSL on September 23.
Yet as CSL states in its claim against Chiao: "before he notified anyone at CSL Behring that he was leaving, Chiao spent the weekend emailing and downloading documents from CSL Behring's computer systems". That alleged mass download went well beyond HAE data and strategies, and went into the core CSL research on more common blood and immune disorders. It also targetted one of CSL's most important therapies Hizentra.
Along with CSL's secret research, the download included information on patient data (CSL has said it has no reason to believe any individual patient's privacy was compromised), details of doctors and new product development and clinical trials.
As CSL described the trove was so valuable to the blood giant it gave its competitor "an unfair road map into CSL Behring's research and development, and business operations, and indeed would give the competitor the capability of undermining CSL Behring's businesses".
CSL alleges it uncovered Chiao's breaches following his sudden resignation on September 23. Suspicious he was going to a competitor, CSL reviewed his computer activity. They allege they found 68 emails from his work email to his personal one, all containing CSL's private files.
Eight days later, on October 1, CSL took court action in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to stop Chiao from beginning work at Pharming in seven days. It would come down to the wire.
On October 7, the same day Chiao was scheduled to start at Pharming, Chief Justice Juan Sanchez held an emergency hearing in courtroom 14A in the redbrick courthouse on Market Street in downtown Philidelphia. CSL told the court it needed time to fully assess the alleged breach by Chaio. It was successful in its request.
For its part Pharming denies that it received any information from Dr Chiao and that he has been temporarily stood aside due to the injunction. Pharming did not respond to questions about Dr Relan's employment or whether it had conducted an internal investigation to see if it was in receipt of any of CSL's trade secrets. Investors appear disturbed by the controversy knocking 9 per cent off Pharming's share price in Europe while CSL has fallen more than 3 per cent from the all-time record price it hit earlier this week.
CSL says it is still reviewing the alleged massive download by Chiao as it tries to understand the scope of what information may have been taken by their former employee. A spokeswoman for CSL told The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald this week: "Our data security systems identified an unauthorised download of documents which the Company immediately addressed through legal recourse."
"CSL Behring is pursuing the matter through the US District Court of Pennsylvania to ensure a satisfactory resolution."