Moderna Sues Pfizer and BioNTech Over Covid Vaccine Technology
2022.08.26 20:10
Moderna (MRNA) Sues Pfizer (PFE) and BioNTech (BNTX) Over Covid Vaccine Technology
By Sam Boughedda
Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) announced Friday that it is suing Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and BioNTech SE (NASDAQ:BNTX) for patent infringements filed between 2010 and 2016 covering its mRNA technology.
The drugmaker filed the patent infringement lawsuits in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts and the Regional Court of Düsseldorf in Germany.
Moderna said that “Pfizer and BioNTech copied this technology, without Moderna’s permission,” copying two features that are “critical to the success of mRNA vaccines.”
They claim that out of the four vaccine candidates Pfizer and BioNTech were looking at, they proceeded with a vaccine that has “the same exact mRNA chemical modification to its vaccine as Spikevax,” Moderna’s vaccine.
“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,” said Moderna Chief Executive Officer Stéphane Bancel.
