Gene editing
Tessaly sues two startups, alleging theft of gene editing trade secrets
The complaint says a former scientist took confidential designs and helped launch a competing rare disease program. Both defendants deny the claims.
By Tomás IbarraPublished · 1 min read
Tessaly Genomics filed suit in federal court Monday against two privately held biotechs, alleging that a former employee downloaded proprietary guide RNA designs in the weeks before leaving the company.
According to the complaint, the scientist joined one of the startups as a co-founder and within a year it had a base editing therapy for a rare liver disorder ready for human testing. The second defendant licensed that program.
Tessaly is asking the court to block further development and award damages. In separate statements, both companies called the claims baseless and said their work was developed independently.
Disputes of this kind have multiplied as experienced gene editing researchers move between a small number of specialized companies. Most settle before trial.
