By Lee Howard

Pfizer Inc. has been ordered to pay at least $38 million - and may owe more than $100 million - to settle a California trade-secrets lawsuit, The San Jose Mercury News has reported.

The verdict, after a six-week trial, found that Pfizer had conspired to steal trade secrets from the nonprofit Ischemia Research and Education Foundation of San Bruno, Calif., in an effort to develop the painkiller Bextra. The lawsuit alleged that Pfizer stole a database on cardiovascular risks associated with drugs like Bextra.

Bextra, co-developed by Pfizer and Pharmacia, was eventually pulled from the market because of cardiac concerns.

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