Pfizer resolves Promosome patent lawsuit over COVID-19 vaccine

By Blake Brittain

(Reuters) - Pfizer, BioNTech and biotech firm Promosome told a federal judge in San Diego, California that they have agreed to end Promosome's lawsuit accusing the COVID-19 vaccine makers of infringing a patent related to messenger RNA technology.

The companies said in a court filing on Wednesday that Promosome would dismiss its case with prejudice, which means it cannot be refiled, and that Promosome had agreed not to bring future claims over the patent against Pfizer and its partner BioNTech. No financial terms were disclosed.

Representatives for Promosome and Pfizer did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday. A representative for BioNTech's attorneys declined to comment on the filing.

The agreement comes weeks after Promosome abandoned a related lawsuit against COVID-19 vaccine maker Moderna.

San Diego and New York-based Promosome was formed to commercialize technology developed by biochemistry researchers at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California. Promosome sued Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna in June, accusing the companies of copying its technology for making doses of mRNA small enough to use safely and effectively in the vaccines.

The lawsuits said that Promosome discussed its technology with representatives from Moderna and BioNTech between 2013 and 2016.

Promosome had asked the court for a share of royalties from the shots. Pfizer earned $37.8 billion last year from sales of its COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty, while Moderna made $18.4 billion from its vaccine Spikevax.

Pfizer and BioNTech denied the allegations and claimed Promosome had withheld information from the U.S. Patent Office when applying for the patent that would have rendered it invalid.

The Promosome lawsuits were among several U.S. patent cases brought by biotech companies over the alleged misuse of their technology in the groundbreaking shots. Moderna filed a patent lawsuit against Pfizer and BioNTech last year that is still ongoing.

(Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington; Editing by David Bario and Andrea Ricci)