The former chief of corporate communications for the former Immunomedics Inc. has admitted to insider trading based on information she received from her boyfriend.
He was the biotech company's chief financial officer at the time.
Lauren Wood, 33, pleaded guilty to securities fraud in federal court in Newark, New Jersey on Wednesday.
In December she was arrested with her boyfriend Usama Malik.
In September 2000, Immunomedics was bought by Gilead for around 21 billion dollars, and the Immunomedics shareholders pocketed a takeover premium of more than 100 percent.
According to prosecutors, Malik told his girlfriend Wood about a successful trial for a breast cancer drug in April 2020, just minutes after he found out about it himself.
He also told relatives about it.
Wood bought about 7,000 Immunomedics shares as a result of the tip and sold them after the study results were announced - the stock then shot up - with a gross profit of a good 213,000 dollars (203,000 euros).
She passed $65,000 on to Malik.
Immunomedics has developed a breast cancer treatment called Trodelvy, which received FDA approval in April 2020.
20 years in prison
Wood faces up to 20 years in prison and a $5 million fine.
Her verdict is scheduled for November 21st.
Malik, who served as chief financial officer from 2018 to October 2020, pleaded not guilty last month and is still awaiting trial.
Case numbers are US v.
Wood, 22-cr-419, US District Court, District of New Jersey (Newark) and US v. Malik, 22-cr-340, US District Court, District of New Jersey (Newark).
A former banker of the US investment bank Lazard Ltd. was arrested in Frankfurt in February.
convicted of insider trading and given a suspended sentence of one year and six months.
He had worked in the institute's acquisitions department in Frankfurt and had access to internal analysis of deals Lazard was working on.
This affected, among other things, the takeover bid by Carlyle Group Inc. and Bain Capital for Osram Licht AG in 2018 and the takeover bid by KKR & Co. for Axel Springer SE.