Johnson & Johnson is suing a former oncology medical affairs employee, alleging a massive and “malicious” stealing of trade secrets.
According to a complaint filed March 12 in a federal court in New Jersey, J&J’s subsidiary Janssen Global Services claims that Cynthia Nwachukwu, a former associate director now “employed by” Summit Therapeutics, downloaded more than 7,000 confidential internal documents to her personal device in the months leading up to her departure from the company in November 2025.
These files allegedly include sensitive brand strategies and research information such as reviews of market gaps, existing and future opportunities for assets, initiatives to support brand growth and positioning, proprietary documents to guide clinical trials and evidence generation—some of which predated her employment by more than a decade.
Summit Therapeutics, which is seeking FDA approval for its PD-1xVEGF bispecific ivonescimab in EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer, did not immediately respond to Fierce’s request for comment. In its complaint, J&J describes the Florida biotech as a “direct competitor.” During her time at J&J, Nwachukwu managed Rybrevant (amivantamab) and Lazcluze (lazertinib) in the same disease area.
Nwachukwu joined J&J as an associate director of global medical affairs execution focused on lung cancer around November 2021, the complaint shows.
In May 2025, Nwachukwu received a negative performance review, and her job security looked precarious as she was placed on a performance improvement plan two months later.
A J&J forensic review found that Nwachukwu began transferring large volumes of internal documents to her personal device a few days after receiving negative work feedback. Of the over 7,000 documents she procured, more than 1,200 were downloaded after she began a leave of absence in October, the complaint says. These include over 700 after she tendered her resignation.
Besides lung-related files, she also downloaded “highly confidential documents” related to certain J&J neuroscience and immunology products, according to the complaint.
In an alleged effort to avoid detection, Nwachukwu reportedly “took affirmative steps” to conceal her tracks by deleting files from her personal account and immediately emptying the recycling bin.
After her resignation, Nwachukwu listed Cynthera Precision Intelligence as her workplace on LinkedIn, with the title “founder & principal.” On her LinkedIn profile, Nwachukwu described Cynthera as a biopharma intelligence business, which J&J also considers as a direct competitor.
The documents Nwachukwu holds provides her, Cynthera and Summit with “an unfair competitive advantage,” the J&J lawsuit claims.
Before filing the lawsuit, J&J had communicated the alleged wrongdoing with Nwachukwu through their respective lawyers. In a response in December 2025, Nwachukwu denied any misconduct and claimed that the downloading was necessary when her work device was allegedly “impaired,” according to J&J’s complaint. However, the company found her device activity and communications around that time contradict that statement.
J&J is demanding compensatory and punitive damages over the former staffer’s “willful, fraudulent and malicious conduct.” The pharma is also seeking injunctions to prevent the use of its proprietary data, plus relief that orders her to return or destroy the documents.
The case again highlights the importance of competitive intelligence in the biopharma sector. In recent years, J&J has made similar accusations against former employees for misappropriating proprietary information and bringing them to competitors Pfizer and Noah Medical.