Moderna Sues Pfizer and BioNTech for Patent Infringement in Relation to the COVID Vaccine

Moderna has filed a lawsuit against Pfizer and BioNTech, alleging that the companies violated patents that are “essential to Moderna’s revolutionary mRNA technology platform.”

On Friday morning, Moderna issued a press release announcing the acquisition.

According to the statement, “When COVID-19 emerged, neither Pfizer nor BioNTech had Moderna’s level of experience with developing mRNA vaccines for infectious diseases, and they knowingly followed Moderna’s lead in developing their own vaccine.”

According to the announcement, Moderna thinks Pfizer and BioNTech, the company’s primary competitors, duplicated “two key features” of their technology without authorization.

Moderna claims that Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine, Comirnaty, infringes on patents it submitted between 2010 and 2016.

Moderna claimed that their “groundbreaking technology” was vital to the creation of their COVID-19 vaccine, Spikevax, and that Pfizer and BioNTech copied it without permission to manufacture Comirnaty.

“We are filing these lawsuits to protect the innovative mRNA technology platform that we pioneered, invested billions of dollars in creating, and patented during the decade preceding the COVID-19 pandemic,” Stéphane Bancel, CEO of Moderna, stated in the statement. “This foundational platform, which we began building in 2010, along with our patented work on coronaviruses in 2015 and 2016, enabled us to produce a safe and highly effective COVID-19 vaccine in record time after the pandemic struck. As we work to combat health challenges moving forward, Moderna is using our mRNA technology platform to develop medicines that could treat and prevent infectious diseases like influenza and HIV, as well as autoimmune and cardiovascular diseases and rare forms of cancer.”

Shannon Thyme Klinger, Chief Legal Officer at Moderna, expressed similar sentiments.

We believe that Pfizer and BioNTech unlawfully copied Moderna’s inventions, and they have continued to use them without permission,” Thyme Klinger explained. “Outside of AMC 92 countries, where vaccine supply is no longer a barrier to access, Moderna expects Pfizer and BioNTech to compensate Moderna for Comirnaty’s ongoing use of Moderna’s patented technologies. Our mission to create a new generation of transformative medicines for patients by delivering on the promise of mRNA science cannot be achieved without a patent system that rewards and protects innovation.”

The complaint was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, as well as the Düsseldorf Regional Court in Germany, according to the company.

According to the Associated Press, Pfizer spokeswoman Pam Eisele stated that the firm had not fully read Moderna’s lawsuit, but that the drugmaker was surprised by it given that their vaccine is based on proprietary technology created by both BioNTech and Pfizer.

In an email, she stated that the corporation will “vigorously defend” itself against any allegations in the lawsuit.

BioNTech did not immediately respond to an Associated Press request for comment.

Moderna stated that it understands the importance of vaccine availability and does not intend to remove Comirnaty from the market. It is also not seeking an injunction to stop future sales.

Credits: Fox Reno
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