Today, after an eight day trial and only several hours of deliberation, a jury in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California found Matthew Panuwat liable for insider trading in violation of the federal securities laws.

Statement of SEC Division of Enforcement Director Gurbir S. Grewal:

“As we’ve said all along, there was nothing novel about this matter, and the jury agreed: this was insider trading, pure and simple. Defendant used highly confidential information about an impending announcement of the acquisition of biopharmaceutical company Medivation, Inc., the company where he worked, by Pfizer Inc. to trade ahead of the news for his own enrichment. Rather than buying the securities of Medivation, however, Panuwat used his employer’s confidential information to acquire a large stake in call options of another comparable public company, Incyte Corporation, whose share price increased materially on the important news.”

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More information:

The SEC filed its civil complaint on August 17, 2021: https://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/lr-25170