Boston jury rules against $500M pharma shares claimant in trade secrets case

A Boston federal jury found in favor of Lunan Pharmaceutical Group after a woman used stolen confidential data to pursue a $500M ownership claim. The verdict ends nearly nine years of litigation.

Boston jury rejects $500M pharma claim after trade secrets misappropriation

A Boston federal jury has returned a verdict in favor of Lunan Pharmaceutical Group, a large integrated global pharmaceutical company, after nearly nine years of litigation over the control of the Chinese firm, weil.com reports.

The dispute centred on a woman who claimed her late father had built Lunan into one of China's leading pharmaceutical companies and, shortly before his death, transferred company shares to her — purportedly worth approximately $500 million — through an offshore trust and without a will. She sought to establish her ownership claim and become Lunan's largest shareholder.

To advance that claim, she enlisted company insiders to obtain Lunan's confidential, nonpublic financial information. According to findings presented at trial, she exploited those insiders' loyalty to her late father, induced their cooperation through promises of increased influence and advancement, and diverted sensitive information via screenshots, private messaging platforms and emails sent to her husband's account. Portions of that information were then used to persuade a British Virgin Islands court that she was entitled to the alleged ownership interest.

The case spawned litigation across multiple jurisdictions, including the British Virgin Islands and China. The Massachusetts court ultimately ruled that the individual had violated Massachusetts trade secret law, with the jury determining that Lunan was entitled to damages resulting from the misappropriation. The court noted that "the law does not permit a litigant to take matters into their own hands."

The verdict was secured on January 9, 2026. The Weil trial team was led by Complex Commercial Litigation partner Adam Gershenson and associate Audrey Pope, working alongside co-counsel at Cooley LLP and Kirton McConkie.

Source: Google News VG — Crime