Enzyme, gene expression leader Dyadic files suit against legal counsel

In Florida, upheaval continues at enzyme biotechnology company Dyadic.

Founder and CEO Mark Emelfarb, who regained control of the company last summer after a proxy fight, has filed suit against Ernst & Young, and the law firms Greenberg Traurig, Moscowitz & Moscowitz and Bilzin Sumberg Baena Price & Axelrod for breach of fiduciary duty, professional negligence, constructive fraud and civil conspiracy.

According to Dyadic, the suit, which Greenberg Trairig and Moscowitz & Moscowitz described as “baseless”, alleges that the company had $27 million in cash reserves when Emelfarb was ousted in mid-2007 and $3 million in cash in June 2008 when he returned, and that the company lost out on potential licensing deals for its biotechnology.

“Dyadic was led to the brink of ruin by the very professionals it relied upon to protect it,” the lawsuit states. The company subsequently licensed the company’s C1 expression system for large-scale production of enzymes to Codexis for $10 million.

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