The vaccine war explodes. Modern filed two lawsuits against Pfizer and BioNTech for patent infringement. At the center of the dispute is the covid vaccine. According to Moderna, who filed the lawsuits in the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts and in the Dusseldorf Regional Court in Germany, Comirnaty, the vaccine produced by the US giant together with the German biotech company, it would infringe on patents which Moderna deposited between 2010 and 2016 on mRna technology.
Modern accusation: "Pfizer and BioNTech have copied our technology"
"This tech was fundamental to the development of Moderna's covid-19 mRNA vaccine, spikevax. Pfizer and Biontech have copied this technology, without Moderna's permission, to build Comirnaty,” the company said in a statement.
“We are filing these lawsuits to protect the innovative mRNA technology platform we built and invested billions of dollars in during the decade leading up to the pandemic. This foundational platform, which we began building in 2010, coupled 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 outbreak of the pandemic. As we work to combat healthcare challenges moving forward, Moderna is using our mRna technology platform to develop medicines that can treat and prevent infectious diseases such as influenza and HIV, as well as autoimmune and cardiovascular diseases and rare forms of cancer,” explained Stèphane Bancel, CEO of Moderna.
The knot of contention
In October of 2020 Moderna had committed to not enforce its patents relating to Covid 19 during the pandemic. In March 2022, as the fight against COVID-19 entered a new phase, the company reaffirmed its commitment, specifying that it would never enforce its patents for vaccines used in 92 low- and middle-income countries. At the same time, Moderna expected companies like Pfizer and BioNTech to respect its intellectual property rights and was prepared to consider "a commercially reasonable license" if one were required for other markets. “Pfizer and biontech have never done this”. “
“We believe Pfizer and BioNTech have illegally copied Moderna's inventions and continued to use them without permission,” said Shannon Thyme Klinger, Chief Legal Officer of Moderna. Outside the 92 countries, Moderna expects Pfizer and BioNTech to compensate Moderna for Comirnaty's continued use of its patented technologies. Modern".
Moderna has specified that it does not intend to ask for the removal of Commune from the market and is not seeking an injunction to prevent its future sale. It also is not seeking damages related to sales of Pfizer in 92 low- and middle-income countries or for sales of Pfizer where the US government would be liable for any damages.
A few minutes after the opening of the US Stock Exchange, the Pfizer stock travels just below parity, BionTech shares lose 1,77%, while Moderna gains over 2%.
