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by Mike Caswell

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed insider trading charges against Ruimin Xie, an employee of former Toronto Stock Exchange listing Bellus Health Inc. who acquired shares and options in the days leading up to a $2-billion takeover offer for the company. (All figures are in U.S. dollars.) The SEC claims that Mr. Xie learned of the deal two weeks before it became public. He then placed buy orders through accounts in his name and that of his wife, the SEC says.

The allegations against Mr. Xie are contained in a brief civil complaint that the SEC filed on Oct. 15, 2024, in federal court in New Jersey. The sole defendant is Mr. Xie, 48, who lives in New Jersey. He was employed as the director of analytical development at Bellus.

The case arises from a takeover offer that GSK PLC made for Bellus in 2023. The deal saw GSK pay $2-billion to acquire Bellus for its camlipixant drug, a treatment for adults with refractory chronic cough (essentially a cough that persists for more than eight weeks). The offer was for $14.75 in cash, which was roughly double Bellus's price at the time.

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