Moderna sues Pfizer-BioNTech for patent infringement over COVID-19 vaccine
Drug company Moderna filed a lawsuit against Pfizer and its German partner, BioNTech, on Friday, accusing the them of copying technology that it developed prior to the pandemic in producing a COVID-19 vaccine.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts as well as in Germany, is seeking an unspecified amount in damages over the alleged patent infringement. It also sets the stage for a massive legal clash between Pfizer, a global pharmaceutical titan, and Moderna, a start-up biotechnology company based in Massachusetts.
“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 Stephane Bancel said in a 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.”
A vial of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine. (David Ryder/)
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration initially granted emergency use authorization in December 2020 to Pfizer/BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine, Comirnaty, and then Moderna’s Spikevax the following week. Each of the companies has made tens of billions of dollars in shot sales.
Both Moderna and Pfizer’s two-dose protocols rely on mRNA technology to help patients battle coronavirus. It works via injection of a genetic code for the spike protein that gives the coronavirus its pointy shape. That code — or the mRNA — is wrapped in a tiny ball of fat and teaches human cells how to develop safe spike proteins that cause the immune system to recognize the real virus.
According to the lawsuit, Pfizer and BioNTech copied two crucial features of Moderna’s patented technologies that are key to creating mRNA vaccines.
“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,” Moderna said in a statement.
Pfizer spokeswoman Pam Eisele said the company has not yet fully reviewed Moderna’s lawsuit, adding that Pfizer’s vaccine is based on proprietary technology created by BioNTech and Pfizer.
Pfizer will “vigorously defend” against any allegations in the case, Eisele said.
With News Wire Services
