Moderna is suing Pfizer and BioNTech for infringing patents that are key to Moderna’s mRNA technology platform that was used to develop the covid vaccine.
A widely distributed COVID vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, called Comirnaty, infringes on patents Moderna filed between 2010 and 2016, the company alleged, adding that mRNA technology was vital to the development of its COVID vaccine.Moderna accused Pfizer and BioNTech of copying the mRNA technology without its permission in order to develop Comirnaty, the press release said.”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,” Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said in a statement.
Pfizer responded, indicating that the lawsuits were unexpected.
“Pfizer/BioNTech has not yet fully reviewed the complaint but we are surprised by the litigation given the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine was based on BioNTech’s proprietary mRNA technology and developed by both BioNTech and Pfizer. We remain confident in our intellectual property supporting the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and will vigorously defend against the allegations of the lawsuit,” Pfizer said in a written statement to CNN.In a statement, BioNTech said it “will vigorously defend against all allegations of patent infringement. BioNTech also values and respects valid and enforceable intellectual property rights of others and remains confident in its intellectual property.”
On the table is billions of dollars in royalties.
Pfizer and BioNTech are projected to amass at least $104 billion in sales by the end of 2022 – and the figure is set to increase even further as the companies roll out a new Omicron-specific shot in the coming months.One legal expert tells DailyMail.com that Moderna could likely claim royalties totaling in the billions on these sales, but its pledge to allow its IP to be infringed during some periods of the pandemic could hinder its case.Moderna’s shot in comparison is projected to rake in $37 billion across 2021 and 2022.As the pandemic triggered soaring infection rates and deaths in late 2020, Moderna chose not to enforce its patent rights during the rollout of the vaccines. But, it changed its policy in March – and only promised not to enforce its patents in ways that will harm low-and-middle income nations.
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