Moderna sued Pfizer and BioNTech, claiming the technology was in their vaccine against COVID-19 infringes its patents, reports Reuters.
“We are filing this lawsuit to protect the innovative mRNA technology that we first developed, invested billions of dollars in creating and patented in the decade preceding COVID-19 pandemic“- Moderna’s boss Stephane Bancel said in a statement.
Moderna claims that Pfizer and BioNTech without permission copied the mRNA technology that Moderna patented in 2010–2016. Vaccinations mRNAs “teach” human cells to make a protein that triggers an immune response.
Pfizer officials said they have not yet received a lawsuit. BioNTech representatives have also not commented on this matter so far.
The company does not want to withdraw the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine from the market or block their future sale. Moderna is seeking compensation.
In the wake of the coronavirus crisis, Moderna promised not to enforce its intellectual property during the pandemic, but on March 7th modified this commitment to only apply to companies in low-income countries.
According to the Reuters agency, the American Moderna was an innovator of this technology, and BioNTech, based in Germany, collaborated on mRNA with the American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer. The US Food and Drug Administration authorized the use of the COVID-19 vaccine first from Pfizer in December 2020 and one week later from Moderna.
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Date Created: August 26, 2022, 15:25