Pfizer, BioNTech counter-sue Moderna over Covid-19 vaccine patents

Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech SE fired back at Moderna with counterclaims in a patent lawsuit in Boston federal court on Monday over their rival Covid-19 vaccines, seeking dismissal of the lawsuit and an order that Moderna’s patents are invalid and not infringed.

Moderna first sued Pfizer in August, accusing the company of violating its rights in three patents related to innovations that Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Moderna said it pioneered before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Moderna has also filed a related lawsuit against Pfizer and BioNTech in Germany. All three companies are also embroiled in US patent disputes with other companies over the vaccines.

A Pfizer spokesperson said the company and BioNTech are confident in their intellectual property and will “vigorously defend” against Moderna’s claims.

Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine made over US$26.4 billion for the New York-based company in the first nine months of 2022, while Moderna sold over US$13.5 billion worth of its Covid-19 vaccine over the same period, according to company filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Pfizer and BioNTech said in their Monday filing that they developed their vaccine independently, calling Moderna’s lawsuit “revisionist history” and arguing its patents “far exceed its actual contributions to the field”.

The companies argued that Moderna ignored the contributions of their scientists to foundational mRNA technology, as well as those of researchers at the US government’s National Institutes of Health.

Moderna also waived its right to bring the lawsuit when it pledged not to sue other Covid-19 vaccine makers during the pandemic, the filing said, arguing the pandemic has not yet ended.

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES