Pfizer and Moderna sued for patent infringement on vaccines against Covid-19
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Pfizer and Moderna are being sued by US biotech company Alnylam Pharmaceuticals. The two pharmaceutical companies are accused of having violated a patent of this company with their vaccines against Covid-19.
It would be a technique that allows the vulnerable active part of the vaccine to do its job in the body. Alnylam claims damages, but the amount is not yet known.
Pfizer and Moderna have made billions from their coronavirus vaccines, used around the world. In a statement, Moderna called the legal move "obviously opportunistic" and said it was not using Alnylam's technology.
Alnylam is a publicly traded company with a value of almost 20,000 million dollars (18,000 million euros). The company says it will not ask to stop the production, distribution or sale of Covid vaccines.
Alnylam is seeking compensation for the use of its lipid nanoparticle (LNP) technology that transports and delivers RNA-based therapeutics or vaccines in the body. For this reason, the company has insisted that "the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines infringe their patent by using a lipid formulated in LNP that protects and administers the mRNA of the vaccines."
This is the second lawsuit for Moderna for patent infringement. Last February, Arbutus Biopharma sued the pharmaceutical company. The lawsuit came after a federal appeals court in December rejected Moderna's challenge to patents belonging to Arbutus Biopharma. The court upheld an administrative panel's findings that Arbutus' patents, which may cover technology used in vaccines, were valid as the science involved was not previously known.
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