On August 26, Moderna issued a press release announcing it will be filing suit against Pfizer and BioNTech for patent infringement. Both Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech sell Covid-19 vaccines that is based upon mRNA technology. Moderna is accusing Pfizer/BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine, Comrinaty®, of infringing Moderna’s patents covering certain features of Moderna’s mRNA technology. (At the time of publishing this post, Moderna’s complaint had not yet been filed. Once the complaint is filed, I will update the post.)
Read MoreAs I previously blogged here and here, Moderna has been tagged with two patent-infringement lawsuits directed to its LNP technology for delivering its mRNA vaccine for Covid. Moderna has now lodged its first defense two each suit—and in each case, it’s the same. Moderna claims that both plaintiffs, including Arbutus/Genevant and Alnylam, have each sued the wrong party. Moderna contracted with the U.S. Government to provide the vaccine, and pursuant to that contract, Moderna claims that the Government agreed to bear the brunt of any residual patent liability. Will the Government have to pick up the tab for Moderna’s patent infringement?
Read MoreArbutus has finally sued Moderna for allegedly infringing its LNP patents. I previously blogged about the Arbutus/Moderna patent dispute here, here and here. Arbutus has already defended the validity of two of its patents, which puts it case on strong footing. But Moderna may nevertheless have a targeted non-infringement defense that could neutralize Arbutus’ claim to any royalties on Moderna’s Covid vaccine.
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