SEC Charges Former Pfizer Statistician with Insider Trading Ahead of COVID-19 Announcement

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced insider trading charges against Amit Dagar, a former Pfizer Inc. employee, and his close friend and business partner, Atul Bhiwapurkar, for trading in advance of the company’s November 5, 2021, announcement that a randomized, double-blind study of its COVID-19 antiviral treatment, Paxlovid, was successful. Following that announcement in which Pfizer’s CEO referred to the news as a “game-changer” in the global efforts to “halt the devastation” of the pandemic, the company’s stock price increased by nearly 11 percent, the largest single-day price move in the stock since 2009. According to the SEC’s complaint, Dagar was a senior statistical program lead for the Paxlovid drug trial, which began in July 2021 as part of the company’s efforts to address the global health pandemic.