Moderna Sues Pfizer And BioNTech Over COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines

The latest update makes it clear that Moderna is now ready to make a move against its rivals, having amended its previous pledge. Moderna claims that Pfizer and BioNTech copied two crucial elements that are its intellectual property, including a chemical modification that Moderna allegedly first demonstrated in 2015 during human trials. This chemical modification makes the vaccine less likely to cause an “undesirable immune response.” 

The second piece of intellectual property seems to be related to the fact that out of all the different ways that could have been used, Pfizer and BioNTech “copied Moderna’s approach to encode for the full-length spike protein in a lipid nanoparticle formulation for a coronavirus.” Moderna said that it is filing these lawsuits in order to protect the innovative mRNA technology that it claims to have pioneered. It also made sure to note that the lawsuit was not meant to stop people from getting vaccinated.

As reported by Reuters, a Pfizer spokesperson expressed surprise at Moderna’s decision by saying, “We are surprised by the litigation given the COVID-19 vaccine was based on BioNTech’s proprietary mRNA technology and developed by both BioNTech and Pfizer.”

Everything is rather uncertain right now, but one thing seems clear — this matter is likely going to be explored in a massive multi-million dollar lawsuit.