Beam Therapeutics has sued a former scientist and a Chinese biotech firm, alleging theft of intellectual property. The Cambridge, Mass.-based gene-editing company claims its former employee, Zi Jun “Emma” Wang, accessed electronic laboratory notebooks late at night and on weekends. Using that information, Beam alleges Wang co-founded YolTech Therapeutics in Shanghai.
YolTech recently agreed to a deal with venture capital firms RA Capital and RTW to establish a new startup called Serapha Bio. Both companies are named as defendants in the lawsuit, filed late last week. The legal action highlights rising tensions between American biotech companies and their Chinese counterparts.