{ "docId": "019dd923-622c-750b-8b9a-4b91788fc785", "docSlug": "5fadb686cc03", "documentTitle": "Twist Bioscience (TWST)", "authorId": "58_Scorpion_Capital", "authorName": "Scorpion Capital", "documentKindSlug": "activist-deck", "documentKindLabel": "Activist deck", "sourceTypeSlug": "short_seller", "sourceTypeLabel": "Short seller", "presentationDate": "2022-11-15 00:00:00", "orientation": "landscape", "aspectRatio": 1.2941177, "pageNumber": 52, "pageCount": 236, "prevPage": 51, "nextPage": 53, "slideType": "expose_contradiction", "function": "expose_contradiction", "density": "dense", "nDataPoints": 0, "notes": "The slide uses a Q&A format and direct quotes to build a narrative of intellectual property theft and business model failure.", "elementsJson": [ "paragraph", "quote_block" ], "metadataConfidence": 1, "imagePath": null, "slideHref": "/slides/019dd923-622c-750b-8b9a-4b91788fc785/52", "deckHref": "/decks/019dd923-622c-750b-8b9a-4b91788fc785", "deckJsonHref": "/decks/019dd923-622c-750b-8b9a-4b91788fc785.json", "deckAnchorHref": "/decks/019dd923-622c-750b-8b9a-4b91788fc785#slide-52", "components": [ { "bbox": null, "kind": "callout", "text": "Twist’s entire model is based on the same Agilent array as Gen9 was, yet Gen9 blew up", "attrs": null, "subkind": null, "toolName": "Visual emphasis", "toolSlug": "visual-emphasis", "confidence": null, "componentId": "019dd953-0932-77cf-bfe7-8e3a13dc95aa", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.35, "w": 0.9, "x": 0.05, "y": 0.08 }, "kind": "paragraph", "text": "Agilent first sold its DNA arrays - for a mere thousand or two each - to a startup called Gen9, a failed venture in which it also invested - the canary in the coal mine for Twist investors. Gen9 was Twist's identical twin, employing the same Agilent \"chip\" to manufacture DNA. We spoke with multiple people from Gen9's management team, who alleged that Twist's founder simply copied the arrays that Gen9 was purchasing from Agilent and hyped them as something new: \"Emily had heard the story from us when she was at Agilent. Then she left Agilent to start Twist.\" Another ex-Gen9 executive stated \"Essentially it's the same\"; \"very, very similar to the technology Twist is using as their starting point...\"", "attrs": null, "subkind": "paragraph", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "9362e3b9-4eea-4a57-8d85-1b67af9bc30c", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.25, "w": 0.9, "x": 0.05, "y": 0.45 }, "kind": "paragraph", "text": "Twist's entire model is based on the same Agilent array as Gen9 was, yet Gen9 blew up\nA: \"Gen9 had a partnership with Agilent. So, the technology that we were using to build our genes from was very, very similar to the technology Twist is using as their starting point. They had comparable starting products because of this Agilent-like technology...Essentially, it's the same. They actually have some limitations on their process that we didn't have.\"\nQ: \"Isn't that damning for Twist that Gen9 had the same technology from Agilent that Twist is built on, and Gen9 basically blew up and had to sell to Ginkgo?\"\nA: \"It should be, yeah. But people keep giving them money.\" -Executive recently at a key Twist competitor, as well as Gen9, another competitor; currently employed at another synthetic biology player", "attrs": null, "subkind": "paragraph", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "b0ac6a37-322f-44ed-8a06-667d6e32d8e6", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.25, "w": 0.9, "x": 0.05, "y": 0.72 }, "kind": "paragraph", "text": "Twist's \"chip\" technology was taken from Agilent, which resulted in a lawsuit; other companies used the same technology, for which \"there weren't a lot of customers\"\n\"At the end of the day, Emily was at Agilent, and she worked for Agilent before she started Twist. And we went to Agilent, and we said to Agilent, right now we're buying your chips at whatever retail; we're using other vendors.... So, Agilent did become a strategic investor in Gen9, which is part of what led to that lawsuit because ultimately, Emily had heard the story from us when she was at Agilent. Then she left Agilent to start Twist. And you can read the legal everything there...However, Agilent had that technology. They weren't sure how to commercialize it, which is why the partnership with Gen9 was so good because there weren't a lot of customers for those chips, and we were one.\" -Founding member of Gen9, an almost identical company to Twist", "attrs": null, "subkind": "paragraph", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "d920a4c7-09a2-44ae-ac92-ac313200708a", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": null, "kind": "quote", "text": "“Essentially it’s the same”; “very, very similar to the technology Twist is using as their starting point…” — Executive recently at a key Twist competitor, as well at Gen9, another competitor; currently employed at another synthetic biology player", "attrs": null, "subkind": null, "toolName": "Authority citation", "toolSlug": "authority-citation", "confidence": null, "componentId": "019dd953-0932-77cf-bfe7-93bb1fbf4e38", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.03, "w": 0.3, "x": 0.05, "y": 0.96 }, "kind": "source-note", "text": "Source: Scorpion Capital consultation calls with experts", "attrs": null, "subkind": null, "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "40bab5e1-1619-4101-b2ce-3ef48cb2eff2", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null } ], "metrics": [], "tools": [], "frameworks": [ { "name": "antagonist-introduction", "slug": null, "matchId": "d2725903-793d-4c61-9d72-0a0bf6336f3f", "evidence": "Frames the founder and company as having copied technology and misled investors.", "confidence": 0.8 } ], "arcBeats": [], "loops": [], "imagePathAlt": null, "thumbSrc": null, "thumbSrcAlt": null, "locked": true }