Ex-Lutonix R&D veep Barry pleads guilty to trade secret theft

The former vice president of R&D for drug-coated balloon maker Lutonix, Christopher Barry, yesterday pleaded guilty to a single count of trade secret theft in federal court in Minneapolis.

Barry, who left Lutonix in 2015 to become CEO of Urotronic, admitted to downloading 6 files in April 2015 containing trade secrets about the development of the drug coating for the Lutonix balloon and transferred the files to his work computer at Urotronic. C.R. Bard (NYSE:BCR) paid $325 million to acquire Lutonix in December 2011.

Lutonix incurred $534,000 in investigative and legal fees in dealing with the case, which Barry will pay back, according to court documents. He faces a prison sentence of 2 to 2.5 years, according to the documents; a date for a sentencing hearing has not been set.

Urotronic told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that the design for its DCB, intended to treat strictures of the urethra, was complete before Barry joined the company.

“Urotronic had no knowledge of or involvement with Mr. Barry’s actions. When Urotronic learned of his actions, it demanded his resignation,” the company said in a statement to the newspaper. “Urotronic’s product was developed before Mr. Barry was hired and Mr. Barry had no involvement in the development of the Urotronic technology.”

Defense attorney Jim Volling of Faegre Baker Daniels told the paper that Barry plans to ask for less prison time than recommended in the sentencing guidelines.

“Mr. Barry recognizes that he made a poor judgment and did something that he deeply regrets,” Volling told the Star Tribune. “I’ve been very impressed by Mr. Barry and his integrity, and his desire to move on with his life and accept responsibility for what happened.”