Moderna files suit aginst Pfizer and BioNTech for alleged patent infringement of COVID-19 vaccine
CAMBRIDGE, Ma. (KDKA) - Moderna is filing complaints in both the United States and Germany saying they believe Pfizer and BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccines infringe on patents filed by Moderna.
"Moderna believes that Pfizer and BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty infringes patents Moderna filed between 2010 and 2016 covering Moderna's foundational mRNA technology," the company said in a statement. "This groundbreaking technology was critical to the development of Moderna's own mRNA COVID-19 vaccine."
They are alleging that Pfizer and BioNTech copied Moderna's invention and are using them without the company's permission.
While they are filing suit, they aren't seeking to remove the vaccines from the market, they are just asking for an injunction to prevent their future sale.
"Outside of AMC 92 countries, where vaccine supply is no longer a barrier to access, Moderna expects Pfizer and BioNTech to compensate Moderna for Comirnaty's ongoing use of Moderna's patented technologies," said Moderna Chief Legal Officer Shannon Thyme Kilnger. "Our mission to create a new generation of transformative medicines for patients by delivering on the promise of mRNA science cannot be achieved without a patent system that rewards and protects innovation."
Moderna said their scientists developed the approach when they created a vaccine for the coronavirus that causes Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) years before the COVID-19 pandemic.
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