(Bloomberg News) Dr. Sid Gilman, a University of Michigan neurologist, was a $1,000-an-hour consultant who leaked confidential drug trial data that helped hedge fund SAC Capital Advisors LP illegally avoid losses or make a profit of $276 million, according to U.S. authorities.

Gilman, 80, was chairman of a safety-monitoring committee that oversaw a clinical trial by Wyeth LLC and Elan Corp. into whether the drug bapineuzumab, or bapi, was safe for patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease. Gilman also moonlighted for a New York-based expert network, providing advice at a fee to former SAC portfolio manager Mathew Martoma, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission and Justice Department.

Gilman treated Martoma, 38, as a "friend and pupil" as he leaked him secret data for 18 months, authorities said. Gilman told Martoma on July 17, 2008, that bapi wasn't helping patients as expected, according to the SEC. Prosecutors today charged Martoma with insider trading and the SEC sued him, saying Gilman's tips let Stamford, Connecticut-based SAC and its CR Intrinsic Investors unit sell more than $960 million in Elan and Wyeth securities before a July 29, 2008, announcement of the drug-trial results.

"At the center of the scheme was the cultivation and corruption of a renowned medical doctor," U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said today at a news conference in Manhattan. "He is prepared to testify in connection with a non-prosecution agreement."

Not Charged

Gilman wasn't charged with a crime or mentioned by name in the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrest complaint against Martoma unsealed today in federal court in New York. He didn't return calls to his house and office in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

"He is cooperating with the SEC and the U.S. Attorney's Office," his lawyer, Marc Mukasey, said.

Martoma's lawyer, Charles Stillman, has said he is confident his client will be exonerated.

Bharara declined to say why the doctor, whom he didn't name, wasn't charged. "As some future date, there may be more information about that," he said today.

Matthew Callahan, the FBI agent who wrote the 21-page criminal complaint, mentioned five times that he spoke with a cooperating witness whom he described as a neurology professor at a "leading medical school." The SEC complaint names Gilman.

First « 1 2 3 » Next