A $10 million verdict for theft of trade secrets in a lawsuit between two multinational biotechnology companies based in New Jersey has been allowed to stand with the denial of post-trial motions Feb. 20.

A Middlesex County jury awarded the sum last October to GenScript USA and GenScript Corp., of Piscataway, New Jersey, in a suit against competitor Genewiz, of South Plainfield, New Jersey.

The jury in GenScript USA v. Genewiz found that Genewiz misappropriated information related to DNA synthesizing that it obtained when it hired away Ping “Mark” Yang, of Princeton, New Jersey, who had been the director of GenScript's gene synthesis department.