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Mikael Kubista is the last to speak at the Bioscience conference in Mölndal outside Gothenburg, on a sunny day in early April.
“Tech wizards don’t develop tech companies, they take over tech companies, he says from the stage.”
He shows pictures of the founders of Tesla, the real ones who, unlike Elon Musk, are virtually unknown to the general public. And then he says that if there is anyone in the audience who is considering accepting funding from an American investor, he would like to give some good advice first.
There is a reason why he says that, even if he does not give any further explanation during his lecture.
The lecture spans several areas. Among other things, Mikael Kubista says that he, together with research colleagues, has identified a type of cell present in animals that can regenerate a lost body part through animal experiments. Further research into this could create completely new possibilities for wound healing, he emphasizes.
He touches on several different types of genetic analysis methods that can be used diagnostically. Genetic and molecular analyses are an area he is well versed in and one he has primarily worked with in his research and entrepreneurship.
Mikael Kubista is a well-known profile in Gothenburg's life science sector. He has been at the University of Gothenburg, Chalmers and AstraZeneca, and has started several companies in the industry. He is best known for having founded the company Tataa Biocenter. The company offers services for diagnostics and gene analysis. They also train in advanced molecular techniques. Customers include pharma and biotech companies as well as academic research groups.
The company has had a successful growth journey. From its founding in 2001 to the early 2020s, it grew from a small company with a few employees to a medium-sized company with around 50 employees and a considerable turnover. In 2020, Tataa was the first in Sweden to offer Covid tests, and in 2021, the company took a place on the audit and consulting firm Deloitte's list of the 50 fastest growing technology companies in Sweden.
However, two years ago, Mikael Kubista was involuntarily separated from his company.
This was after he had let the American venture capital company Care Equity in, as a majority owner. Kubista and the other founders were forced to leave the company and their shares, which at the time had a combined value of nearly 78 million SEK, were declared forfeited and lost all their value, see previous article in Life Science Sweden.
Since then, Mikael Kubista and the other founders have sued their former law firm for inadequate advice, with the goal of regaining the value that was lost for them.
Care Equity's CEO, Peter Batesko, or companies controlled by him, has, in turn, sued Tataa's founders and their current lawyer in several different cases, including for defamation and breach of trust.
The founders' lawyer claims that it is a so-called SLAPP strategy (Strategic lawsuits against public participation), something that the newspaper Realtid has reported on. SLAPP means that resourceful companies or individuals, by directing multiple lawsuits against an opposing party, try to intimidate and force them to silence. The aim is to create such a heavy legal burden for the opposing party that they ultimately do not have the strength to pursue their issue.
Mikael Kubista
Age: 63
Born: In the town of Podbořany in what was then Czechoslovakia. The family came to Sweden in 1968 just before the Prague Spring. When the Soviet invasion of the country was a fact, they did not return.
Lives: Mölndal south of Gothenburg.
Family: Wife, three children and five grandchildren.
Career in selection: Studied at the University of Gothenburg, did his thesis at Astra Hässle where he was part of the group that developed Losec/omeprazole. Received a PhD in physical chemistry at Chalmers and then did postdoc work in Australia and the USA. Has founded the companies LightUp Technologies, Tataa Biocenter, MultiD Analyses, Life Genomics, SimSen Diagnostics and Runa Bio.
Current activities: Head of the Department of Gene Expression at the Institute of Biotechnology at the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague, researches at the University of Gothenburg through a grant from the Foundation for Strategic Research. Is in the starting blocks with a new company.
Last book read: Plunder: Private Equity's Plan to Pillage America by Brendan Ballou.
Previously, Mikael Kubista has been bound by confidentiality and has not been able to speak publicly about the case, but now he states to Life Science Sweden that he can speak freely after an arbitration court released him from the agreement he had with Tataa Biocenter. The events surrounding Tataa have noticeably worn him down.
“Not only that they took our company away from us without compensation. They followed up by showering us with lawsuits based on unfounded accusations, to prevent us from trying to regain what was taken from us and to stop us from starting over, that is, to compete with the company that was ours but is no longer ours,” he says when we get a chat during a break at the scientific conference.
He adds that there are more than just himself who have been affected.
“Even though I am the one who is most visible, I do not represent only myself. We are 31 people who have been deprived of ownership without compensation in the company we built over 20 years.”
But then he leaves the legal proceedings for a moment and says that he is in the process of starting a new company together with, among others, former colleagues from Tataa.
The new company is called Precision Bioanalytics.
“We have submitted the application to the Swedish Companies Registration Office and have registered a domain,” he says.
The aim of the new company is to help other companies in cell and gene therapies to test and develop their drug candidates. The company will also be able to offer even more sensitive diagnostic methods than those available today.
Mikael Kubista takes tuberculosis as an example where these services can be valuable because it is a disease that can be difficult to diagnose in populous countries with a high spread of infection.
“It is important to detect infection early, to prevent spread. Then it is valuable that we can help increase diagnostic accuracy.”
Life Science Sweden has reached out Peter Batesko for comment via his company Care Equity.
Correction 2025-05-02: In an earlier version of this article, it was stated that Peter Batesko has sued Tataa's founders and their current lawyer in several different cases. The correct wording is that Peter Batesko, or companies controlled by him, have sued Tataa's founders and their current lawyer in several different cases. The article has been updated.