University of Michigan Professor Tied to Insider Trading Case Resigns

Sid Gilman, the University of Michigan neurologist linked to an insider trading case, has resigned his university position. Gilman, 80 was named by authorities as the person who leaked data to Mathew Martoma, 38, an SAC Capital Advisors LP hedge fund manager charged with insider trading. Gilman quit his university post on Nov. 27, Pete Barkey, a spokesman for the Ann Arbor-based university’s medical school, said in an e-mail. Gilman had been paid $1,000 an hour to act as a consultant to Martoma and in 2008 allegedly gave the hedge fund manager details of a clinical trial for an Alzheimer’s drug being developed by Wyeth LLC. The neurologist treated Martoma as a “friend and pupil” while leaking him secret data for 18 months, authorities said. Martoma has been arrested and charged with insider trading, and is accused of helping the firm make $276 million using the information provided by the university researcher. Gilman was chairman of a safety-monitoring committee that oversaw a clinical trial by Wyeth, now owned by Pfizer Inc. (PFE), and Elan Corp. into whether the drug bapineuzumab was safe for patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease. He also moonlighted for a New York-based expert network, providing advice at a fee, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Justice Department. The university said in a statement Nov. 21 that it “is carefully reviewing all of Dr. Gilman’s activities while a faculty member.” Barkey said had no further comment about what other steps the university might take.