On Monday, two small biotech firms sued Moderna in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, allegedly accusing vaccine manufacturer of its Covid-19 vaccine infringing on a number of patents they control.
In a 51-page lawsuit both Warminster-based Arbutus and its part-owned Genevant said that Moderna infringed on their patent for so-called lipid nanoparticle technology, which they say was key in the development of Moderna’s mRNA vaccine and took scientists from Arbutus and Genevant “years of painstaking work to develop and refine.”
The lawsuit reads “Moderna brought its vaccine from lab bench to arms in record speed that unprecedented accomplishment was made possible by Moderna’s use of breakthrough technology Arbutus had already created and patented.”
However; Moderna denied the allegations and said in a statement that “Our COVID-19 vaccine is a product of Moderna’s many years of pioneering mRNA platform research and development, including the creation of our own proprietary lipid nanoparticle delivery technology, which has been pivotal to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.”
BioPharmaDive has reported more about the lawsuit below:
Arbutus and Genevant’s lawsuit escalates a yearslong dispute with Moderna that’s already wound its way through a federal patent appeal board and a federal appeals court.
At issue are microscopic fat-like particles that Arbutus scientists developed to shield messenger RNA delivered into the body — inventions awarded several U.S. patents which Arbutus and partner Genevant allege Moderna infringed with its COVID-19 vaccine Spikevax.
In court documents, the two cited several disclosures in scientific publications describing early studies of what would become Spikevax, including one coauthored by National Institutes of Health scientists that was published in The New England Journal of Medicine. The papers, Arbutus and Genevant claim, show Moderna’s vaccine uses so-called lipid nanoparticles that are covered by six separate patents they hold.
Arbutus and Genevant are not seeking an injunction on sales of Spikevax, which last year earned Moderna nearly $19 billion, and acknowledge Moderna’s essential role in developing a vaccine that’s saved tens of thousands of lives during the pandemic.
But they’re hoping to win a judgement that Moderna infringed six of their patents and to secure damages no less than a “reasonable royalty” on Moderna’s sales. Mani Foroohar, an analyst at SVB Leerink who covers Moderna, expects a single-digit royalty could be expected should the court rule against Moderna, which would still equate to a significant sum.
Sources: The Gateway Pundit, Inquirer, Barrons, The Hill, Biopharma Dive