Moderna sues Pfizer for patent infringement

Last week, Moderna filed a claim for patent infringement against Pfizer and BioNTech. The companies copied messenger RNA technology developed and researched by Moderna, officials said. As a result, Moderna filed a lawsuit, and its amount has not yet been reported.

The COVID-19 vaccines designed by Pfizer and BioNTech were created with innovative mRNA technology patented by Moderna back in 2010-2016. 

Moderna, in turn, doesn’t plan to file patents for Spikevax — its proprietary elaboration effort. The purpose is quite obvious: to create vaccine analogues in third world countries. This move would be impossible with a patent. Moderna is also not going to file a lawsuit demanding compensation for lost profits. 

And that brings the company to its ultimate purpose. Moderna intends to achieve a ban on using mRNA in Pfizer and BioNTech vaccines. So that the sale of the most popular COVID-19 drug, Comirnaty will be suspended.

In the midst of the pandemic, Moderna vowed not to pursue full patent enforcement from regulators. In this sense, Pfizer has been considered as the largest supplier of COVID-19 vaccines, earning more than $20 billion last year. 

In case the court takes the plaintiff side, Pfizer could possibly lose half of its proceeds from the Comirnaty sales that equals to a quarter of its annual budget. But the verdict can take a long time. This may affect investors of pharmaceutical enterprises. As when patent disputes arise, the shares’ value of opposing firms often decreases.

The situation is also ambiguous for Moderna. An attempt to drive competitors out of the market may indicate that other products in development have fallen short of the company's expectations. Thus, the Spikevax vaccine based on messenger RNA is likely to become the main profit source for the coming years.

Anyway, Moderna isn’t the only developer of mRNA technology. The patent belongs to the firm, but the key research facility is the U.S. National Institutes of Health. The company is also in a public dispute with this healthcare department.