Trijya Vakil and Neeraj Visen
U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Litigation Release No. 26348 / July 11, 2025
Securities and Exchange Commission v. Trijya Vakil and Neeraj Visen, No. 7:25-cv-05697 (S.D.N.Y., filed July 10, 2025)
SEC Charges Former Animal Health Company Senior Director and Tippee with Insider Trading
On July 10, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed insider trading charges against two individuals, Trijya Vakil and Neeraj Visen, for allegedly trading in stock of Kindred Biosciences, Inc. based on material nonpublic information about the impending acquisition of Kindred by Vakil’s employer.
According to the SEC’s complaint, Vakil, then Senior Director, Product Innovation at Elanco Animal Health, Inc., learned about the upcoming Kindred acquisition in April 2021, when she was assigned to Elanco’s due diligence team for the transaction. The SEC alleges that Vakil purchased 500 shares of Kindred stock on the basis of that material nonpublic information regarding the acquisition, and when Kindred’s stock price rose by approximately 46% following the acquisition announcement, Vakil obtained ill-gotten gains of $2,447.50. The SEC further alleges that Vakil tipped her friend, Neeraj Visen, about the upcoming Kindred acquisition, including telling him on June 15, 2021 that the acquisition would be announced within a day or two. According to the SEC’s complaint, Visen then purchased 38,000 shares of Kindred stock, and when the stock price rose after the announcement, Visen obtained ill-gotten gains of $109,437.
The SEC’s complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, charges Vakil and Visen with violating the antifraud provisions of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The complaint seeks final judgments against both Vakil and Visen enjoining them from committing future violations of the charged antifraud provisions, prohibiting them from acting as an officer or director of any issuer that has a class of securities registered pursuant to Section 12 of the Exchange Act or that is required to file reports pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act, and ordering them to pay disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and civil penalties. Visen and Vakil have each consented to the entry of judgments against them and to be enjoined from further misconduct, with monetary relief, if any, to be determined later by the Court. The settlements are subject to Court approval.
Vakil and Visen each pleaded guilty to criminal charges in parallel actions brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Derek M. Schoenmann, Jawad B. Muaddi, and Assunta Vivolo of the SEC’s Enforcement Division’s Market Abuse Unit, Jordan Baker of the New York Regional Office, and supervised by Market Abuse Unit Chief Joseph G. Sansone. The SEC’s litigation is being led by Mr. Schoenmann and Mr. Muaddi and supervised by Alexander M. Vasilescu. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.