Pfizer Drops Lawsuit Accusing Ex-Employee of Stealing More Than 12,000 Files

Pfizer has discarded its lawsuit charging a former employee, Chun Xiao Li, with stealing more than 12,000 files and uploading them to her personal computer drive and other devices.

Pfizer’s complaint, filed in November 2021, accused Li of stealing confidential information related to the company’s COVID-19 vaccine and two cancer drugs just before she was due to start working at Xencor, a Monrovia, Calif.-based drugmaker. Xencor subsequently withdrew its offer of employment.

Pfizer and Li filed a joint motion to dismiss the case, which was granted Wednesday by Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. The motion did not detail Pfizer’s reasons for seeking a dismissal.