Moderna is suing Pfizer, BioNTech for allegedly copying their COVID-19 vaccine

Moderna announced on Friday that it intends to sue Pfizer and BioNTech, alleging that both companies copied Moderna’s technology to make their own vaccine, which at the time were deemed to be essential to remove restrictions and boost the economy.

Moderna released a statement on their website confirming the lawsuit and their reasons behind it.

“We are filing these lawsuits to protect the innovative mRNA technology platform that we pioneered, invested billions of dollars in creating, and patented during the decade preceding the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Moderna Chief Executive Officer Stéphane Bancel.

“This foundational platform, which we began building in 2010, along with our patented work on coronaviruses in 2015 and 2016, enabled us to produce a safe and highly effective COVID-19 vaccine in record time after the pandemic struck. As we work to combat health challenges moving forward, Moderna is using our mRNA technology platform to develop medicines that could treat and prevent infectious diseases like influenza and HIV, as well as autoimmune and cardiovascular diseases and rare forms of cancer,” Bancel said.

Moderna Chief Legal Officer Shannon Thyme Klinger concurred: “We believe that Pfizer and BioNTech unlawfully copied Moderna’s inventions, and they have continued to use them without permission.”

Klinger added: “Outside of AMC 92 countries, where vaccine supply is no longer a barrier to access, Moderna expects Pfizer and BioNTech to compensate Moderna for Comirnaty®’s ongoing use of Moderna’s patented technologies. Our mission to create a new generation of transformative medicines for patients by delivering on the promise of mRNA science cannot be achieved without a patent system that rewards and protects innovation.”

Pfizer denied Moderna’s claims, saying in a Friday statement that Comirnaty was “based on BioNTech’s proprietary mRNA technology and developed by both BioNTech and Pfizer.”

“We remain confident in our intellectual property supporting the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and will vigorously defend against the allegations of the lawsuit,” Pfizer’s statement read.