Inotiv’s Data Breach: A Pharma Firm’s Fight Against Ransomware

American Pharmaceutical Firm Inotiv Discloses Data Breach Impacting Thousands

In August 2025, American pharmaceutical company Inotiv revealed that a ransomware attack had compromised the personal information of thousands of individuals. The Indiana-based contract research organization, specializing in drug development, discovery, safety assessment, and live-animal research modeling, employs about 2,000 people and generates over $500 million in annual revenue.

Following the attack, which disrupted business operations by taking down networks and systems, Inotiv has restored access to affected systems. The company is now in the process of notifying 9,542 individuals whose data was stolen during the breach.

According to disclosures made to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), unauthorized access to Inotiv’s systems occurred between August 5-8, 2025. The stolen data includes information on current and former employees, their family members, and individuals associated with Inotiv or its acquired companies.

While Inotiv has not specified the types of data compromised in the attack, the Qilin ransomware group has claimed responsibility. In August, the group leaked data samples and stated that they had exfiltrated over 162,000 files totaling 176 GB from Inotiv’s systems.

An Inotiv spokesperson has yet to comment on the validity of Qilin ransomware’s claims. Qilin, operating as a Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) under the name “Agenda” since August 2022, has claimed responsibility for over 300 victims on its dark web leak site.

Notable victims of Qilin ransomware include automotive giant Yangfeng, Australia’s Court Services Victoria, publishing giant Lee Enterprises, and pathology services provider Synnovis. The Synnovis incident led to the cancellation of appointments and operations at major NHS hospitals in London.

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