Moderna accuses Pfizer and BioNTech of “copying Moderna’s approach to encoding the barbed protein that coats the surface of the virus.”
Moderna said Friday that it will sue Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech in the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts and the Düsseldorf Regional Court in Germany for infringing patents on a coronavirus vaccine developed by the two companies that covers messenger RNA technology. (mRNA) founding company.
Moderna accuses Pfizer and BioNTech of “copying Moderna’s approach to encoding the full-length spiky protein that coats the surface of the virus in a coronavirus lipid nanoparticle structure.”
Moderna scientists developed this approach when they created a vaccine for MERS-CoV years before COVID-19 first appeared, according to the statement.
This pioneering technology was crucial to the development of corona vaccines, including Moderna’s vaccines and Spikefax, produced by Moderna.
Pfizer and BioN Tech copied this technology, without the permission of Moderna, to develop the Comirnaty vaccine, according to a statement issued by Moderna on its website, Friday.
“We are filing these lawsuits to protect the mRNA technology platform that we created, invested billions of dollars to create, and obtained a patent during the decade leading up to the Corona epidemic,” Moderna CEO Stefan Bancel said in the statement. We started building it in 2010, paralleling our patented work on coronaviruses in 2015 and 2016, enabling us to produce a safe and highly effective COVID-19 vaccine in record time after the pandemic.”
He added, “As we work to combat health challenges moving forward, Moderna is using our mRNA technology platform to develop drugs that can treat and prevent infectious diseases such as influenza and HIV, as well as autoimmune and cardiovascular diseases. and rare forms of cancer.
In line with its commitment to global fair access, in October 2020, Moderna pledged not to enforce COVID-19-related patents while the pandemic continues.
In March 2022, when the collective battle against COVID-19 entered a new phase, and the provision of a vaccine was no longer an obstacle to access in many parts of the world, Moderna updated its pledge, according to the statement.
Moderna clarified that although it will never impose its patents on any vaccine against “Covid-19” used in 92 low and middle-income countries, in favor of the COVAX AMC Prior Market Commitment Mechanism, launched by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), it expected The Company requires companies such as Pfizer and BioNtech to respect their intellectual property rights and to consider obtaining a commercially reasonable license when seeking a license to other markets.