Moderna has filed lawsuits in America and Germany against Pfizer and BioNTech. Moderna says the two companies infringed on their mRNA patents. Specifically, the mRNA technology that forms the base of their COVID vaccine.
In a statement, Moderna accused the two companies of infringing on patents it had filed between 2010 and 2016 by copying the technology in order to develop their own 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,” Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said in a statement.
At the height of the pandemic, Moderna said they would not worry about the patents. They knew that we needed to end the pandemic as soon as possible, and one way to do that was with vaccines. Now that we are two years into the pandemic and supplies aren’t scarce, they are ready to enforce the patents. Moderna doesn’t want to remove the other companies’ vaccines from the market. But they believe they are owed compensation for their patent.
Representatives for Pfizer told BuzzFeed News in an emailed statement, “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,” they said.
In a statement online, BioNTech said their “work is original, and we will vigorously defend against all allegations of patent infringement.”
According to Moderna, neither BioNTech nor Pfizer had the mRNA experience when the pandemic first started. They both tried other avenues to make their vaccines. One statement from the lawsuits states, “Ultimately, however, Pfizer and BioNTech discarded those alternatives and copied Moderna’s patented technology.”
Source Buzzfeednews
