U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
The headquarters of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is seen in Washington, D.C., Jan. 28, 2021. SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images

A pharmaceutical executive agreed Tuesday to plead guilty in an insider trading case that federal prosecutors say netted him more than $262,000 in illegal profits.

Dishant Gupta, director of data strategy and operations for French drugmaker Ipsen, plans to plead guilty to securities fraud and settle a civil lawsuit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Reuters reported, citing legal papers filed in U.S. District Court in Boston.

Gupta, 55, of Hillsborough, New Jersey, was accused earlier in the day of using his wife's brokerage account to buy shares of cancer drug developer Epizyme after learning Ipsen was planning to buy the company.

He allegedly sold the shares and reaped the ill-gotten gains after Ipsen announced the $247 million deal on June 27, 2022.

A plea hearing is scheduled for Oct. 8 and a lawyer for Gupta said he was working to resolve the case, Reuters said.

Ipsen declined to comment, citing company policy regarding legal matters involving current or former employees and said it was focused on compliance with applicable laws, Reuters said.

Gupta allegedly learned about Ipsen's plan to buy Epizyme after another executive asked him in March 2022 to help assemble materials related to the potential purchase of a cancer drug and an unidentified drug company's assets.

He later met with other Ipsen executives and by April 7, 2022, allegedly knew the company was Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Epizyme and the drug was its Tazverik.

He allegedly began buying shares of Epizyme that day and also allegedly began conducting internet searches using the phrases "Epizyme buyout" and "Epizyme takeover."

Securities fraud carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years but federal guidelines would likely call for a fraction of that time.