SEC Charges Former Biopharmaceutical Employee with Insider Trading

ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEEDING
File No. 3-20457

August 10, 2021 - The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced settled insider trading charges against a former employee of Pfizer Inc. for unlawfully trading AveXis, Inc. securities while he was aware of material, non-public information about AveXis's potential acquisition.

According to the SEC's order, Zorayr Mikael Manukyan-Zakaryan, of Massachusetts, was on Pfizer's due diligence team in connection with Pfizer's potential bid to acquire AveXis and received a trading blackout notice from Pfizer related to the project. Yet, less than a week after joining the team and learning confidential information about AveXis's potential acquisition, Manukyan-Zakaryan allegedly began purchasing AveXis securities. While Pfizer wound up withdrawing from the acquisition process, on April 9, 2018, AveXis and another pharmaceutical company, Novartis AG, publicly announced that Novartis had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire AveXis. According to the order, Manukyan-Zakaryan still owned the AveXis securities at the time of this announcement, and as a result, realized illicit profits of $20,498.63.

The order charges Manukyan-Zakaryan with violating the antifraud provisions of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. Without admitting or denying the SEC's findings, Manukyan-Zakaryan agreed to a cease-and-desist order and to pay a civil penalty of $40,997.26.

The SEC's investigation was conducted by Silvana Quintanilla and supervised by Tracy L. Davis and Monique C. Winkler of the SEC's San Francisco Regional Office. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.