A biopharmaceutical company filed suit against its former in-house counsel for allegedly scheming with an investment management firm to extort $2 million worth of shares in exchange for the return of confidential information for its flagship product.

On Dec. 5, attorneys with Baker Botts filed the five-count complaint in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on behalf of Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, against its former in-house counsel, Kellie Ann Moore, for failing to turn over her employer-issued laptop that contained attorney-client communications, confidential information, and documents relating to Spectrum's key product, Rolvedon, a medication used to lower the risk of infection for chemotherapy patients. After parting ways with Spectrum in 2019 due to a staffing reduction, Moore allegedly offered to return the laptop and purportedly damaging information in exchange for Spectrum retaining her as a consultant and paying her. Among her demands included 200,000 shares of Spectrum stock, worth approximately $2 million, according to the complaint.