Beam sues Chinese startup, alleging theft of trade secrets

Beam Therapeutics has filed a lawsuit alleging that former scientist stole confidential base-editing research to cofound a Chinese biotech with competing therapies.

According to the lawsuit, while working at Beam, Dr. Emma Wang secretly founded YolTech Therapeutics. Beam alleges that Wang “engaged in unusual access to Beam’s database, including accessing files unrelated to her duties at Beam, and accessing files outside of standard working hours. Then, only five months after leaving Beam, she filed patent applications on behalf of YolTech based on Beam’s confidential and trade secret information.”

Now, according to Beam, through a reverse merger with a newly-formed U.S.-based company, Serapha Bio, YolTech has copied Beam’s base editing platform and product pipeline and is selling one of its research programs.

One of Beam’s more advanced candidates, BEAM-302 is a liver-targeting lipid-nanoparticle formulation designed to directly correct the underlying genetic mutation that causes the severe form of alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) through base editing. According to Beam, YolTech is also developing in vivo base-editing therapies, including YOLT-202, which is designed to treat AATD and will “ultimately emerge as a direct competitor to BEAM-302.”

Beam has faced another legal challenge over its AATD program. In July, an arbitration tribunal ruled in favor of Prime Medicine in a dispute over whether Prime’s AATD candidate, PM647, violated a 2019 collaboration and license agreement with Beam. The tribunal found that PM647 fell within Prime’s permitted field and that Prime did not breach the agreement, clearing the way for the company to advance the program toward clinical trials.