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Doctors found more common symptoms of COVID-19 in patients treated with the drug Paxlovid than reported, in a detailed study in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Chris Sweda | Chicago Tribune | Tribune News Service | Getty Images
Federal authorities accused the former Pfizer An employee and his best friend on Thursday with illegally traded stocks based on the results of non-public trials of the drug company’s antiviral Covid pill Paxlovid.
the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission Both announced insider trading charges against former employee, Amit Daggar, and his friend, Atul Bhiwapurkar.
Dagar, who helped manage and analyze some of the clinical trial data, and Bhiwapurkar “engaged in an insider trading scheme to make illicit profits from options trading based on inside information” about the unreleased November 2021 Paxlovid results, according to the DOJ.
The Justice Department said the two individuals sold their Pfizer call options for a “significant profit” totaling more than $350,000.
“The charges in this case relate to the personal conduct of a former Pfizer employee who violated company policies,” a Pfizer spokesperson told CNBC. “Pfizer is cooperating with government investigations”.
The Justice Department said Daggar, 44, of Hillsboro, New Jersey, was arrested Thursday morning and charged with four counts of securities fraud, each carrying a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. He was also charged with conspiracy to commit securities fraud, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
Bhiwapurkar, 45, of Milpitas, California, was also arrested early Thursday and charged with two counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, according to the Justice Department.
Lawyers for the defendants did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Justice Department announced the charges along with several other allegations of illegal trade, including charges related to media mergers with Trump.
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