Oxford scientists accuse Chinese biotech company of stealing trade secrets

A technician holds an Oxford Nanopore Technologies Ltd. MinION portable and real time device for DNA and RNA sequencing
A technician holds an Oxford Nanopore Technologies Ltd. MinION portable and real time device for DNA and RNA sequencing

A group of Oxford scientists is threatening to sue a Chinese genetics company, claiming it illegally stole trade secrets.

Oxford Nanopore said it was preparing a legal claim against China’s BGI, which allegedly poached information while it was a customer of the business.

The dispute is understood to centre around claims that Shenzhen-based BGI used trade secrets to develop its own “nanopore-based sequencing” technology. Oxford Nanopore said it was currently seeking to gather data “to support” a potential lawsuit.

The spat represents the latest controversy involving BGI, which has been blacklisted by the US over alleged links to the Chinese military.

The gene technology in question relies on a process known as “strand sequencing”, which allows DNA to pass through a tiny hole in a cell membrane called a nanopore.

An electric current is then used to decode the DNA, with the technology capable of diagnosing cancers or detecting viruses.

In an announcement to investors on Tuesday, Oxford Nanopore said it had filed to serve BGI with legal papers.

Underpinning the prospective legal action are claims that BGI breached its customer contract with BGI, as well as duties under the Trade Secrets Act.

The British company allegedly worked with BGI during a research project in 2014.

BGI is understood to have made legally binding assurances not to use Oxford Nanopore’s technology to develop a rival product.

However, last month it unveiled a new nanopore sequencing platform, which Oxford Nanopore claims it cannot use “without infringing or misappropriating the group’s substantial portfolio of proprietary rights”.

BGI did not respond to requests for comment.

The warning over potential legal action comes as BGI continues to face scrutiny in the West. This week, the US House of Representatives passed a Bill designed to impose further sanctions on BGI, as well as other Chinese companies.

BGI said it was “disappointed that the US legislative process is being used to pick winners and losers”. The US Bill is understood to be unrelated to any action by Oxford Nanopore.

It follows an earlier clampdown on the Chinese gene giant.

In 2022, three BGI subsidiaries were placed on a US blacklist, as Washington claimed they posed “a significant risk of contributing to monitoring and surveillance by the government of China”.

BGI denies the claims and says it poses no threat to national security.

Policymakers in the UK, meanwhile, have also warned over the risks of trade with BGI.

Writing in The Telegraph this year, Sir Iain Duncan Smith urged UK private healthcare companies including Oxford Nanopore not to work with BGI, saying it would “seriously undermine attempts to protect UK citizens”.

He said: “Allowing Chinese companies access undermines our security and our world-leading life sciences sector, which cannot compete on price with companies subsidised by the Chinese state.

“Whilst BGI Group claims to be a private company, it nonetheless operates the Chinese government’s key laboratories and national genebank.”

BGI has argued that all data processed in the UK remain in the UK and the EU, and that it complies with local privacy laws.