Beam Therapeutics

So there have been quite a few in vivo based editing clinical trials now.

The first example, and one that is now about to enter a large scale phase two, was the clinical trial led by Verve Therapeutics and Beam Therapeutics.

Lilly has since bought the rights for both companies to this program.

I actually just bought Verve outright.

So that really presents opportunities for taking advantage of past learnings, past regulatory approvals, past safety and biodistribution data to accelerate subsequent programs.

And CTG, part of the answer to the question that listeners are probably wondering, how is CTG going to make this cheaper and faster than it is if industry won't take on these programs now? Part of it is we're a nonprofit, so we don't have to make a profit and we can do things a bit more inexpensively, thanks to the flexibility and the goodwill that a nonprofit engenders.

But also, it's really by partnering with Other organizations, including companies like Beam Therapeutics and Prime Medicine, that have kindly agreed to support our use of manufacturing know-how and regulatory know-how that they have worked hard to generate at great cost.

to benefit these programs that industry would never otherwise go after.

Jensen Wu, the CEO, told me that Beam's claims are, quote, "entirely without merit," but he wouldn't discuss the specifics.

Emma Wang told me that the company has evidence that rebuts the claims in the lawsuit, and she made three points.

She pointed to a stat story that noted that Beam CEO John Evans publicly dismissed the theft accusations in April.

She says that Beam can't connect her alleged data access.

Turning to another topic in the news this week, Allison, tell us about a juicy case that's got a lot of people in the biotech industry chatting this week.

Yes, there is a very juicy lawsuit that has been filed recently by the gene-editing company Beam Therapeutics, alleging that one of its former scientists used its intellectual property when founding a Chinese biotech company.

That company, called Yoltech, made a licensing deal earlier this year with some venture capital firms, which actually led to the creation of a new US company that's directly competing against Beam.

This lawsuit comes at a time of escalating tensions between American biotech companies and their Chinese counterparts, and speaks to fear in the startup community that scientists that are working with their companies will leave and go start companies in China, or that Chinese companies will find a way to infringe on their intellectual property and really decimate their efforts.

This case is interesting because one of the executives at Yoltech was working at Beam Therapeutics, and Beam has said in this lawsuit that they actually went into their electronic records and found out that she was going into their systems on weekends, late at night, looking at things that weren't even related to her role, and were what Beam considers trade secrets, and then left Beam and immediately went and worked for this company that's now competing against Beam.

So this is my favorite story of the week, Allison, because it just strikes to the heart of so much of what we've been talking about, you know, biotech innovation and competition against China, and whether it's a fair, level playing field.

Here's a scientist, you know, she's working for Beam.