Two former JHL Biotech executives have been handed prison sentences after pleading guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit theft of trade secrets and wire fraud, in relation to the Taiwanese firm’s development of multiple biosimilars.

Pfizer claims two former employees stole trade secrets relating to its diabetes-obesity GLP-1 receptor agonist research program for their startup Regor Therapeutics. Regor’s $1.5bn deal with Lilly further spurred Pfizer’s concerns.

Pfizer alleges its associate director of statistics transferred 12,000 files from her company laptop ahead of move to Xencor. Company seeks a temporary restraining order to prevent her from disclosing confidential information, including information on Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine and monoclonal antibodies for treatment of cancer.

AbbVie claims a former employee took Humira manufacturing process know-how to Alvotech. Settlement is likely as Alvotech does not want to delay development of its biosimilar and AbbVie doses not want to disclose its trade secrets in court.