The gene-editing company Beam Therapeutics is alleging that one of its scientists stole intellectual property and used it to co-found a Chinese company that made a deal with VC firms. The allegation comes at a time of escalating tensions between American biotech companies and their Chinese counterparts.
Beam, which is based in Cambridge, Mass., filed a lawsuit late last week accusing one of its former scientists, Zi Jun “Emma” Wang, of accessing the company’s electronic laboratory notebooks late at night and on weekends, then using the information she gleaned there to start a company called YolTech Therapeutics.
YolTech, which is based in Shanghai, recently made a deal with VC firms RA Capital and RTW to form a new startup called Serapha Bio. Both YolTech and Serapha are named as defendants in the case.
