CureVac and BioNTech enter legal battle over mRNA vaccine technology
pharmafile | July 7, 2022 | News story | Business Services |
CureVac has filed a lawsuit against BioNTech, as well as two of its subsidiaries, for allegedly infringing on its intellectual property rights over mRNA technology used in BioNTech and Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine.
CureVac is seeking “fair compensation” for infringement, in the case filed in the German Regional Court in Dusseldorf. The company is neither expecting an injunction nor planning to take legal action that would prevent BioNTech and Pfizer from producing, selling, or distributing the drug.
Comirnaty is the duo’s mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. BioNTech, together with Pfizer, developed Comirnaty in 2020, making it the world’s first approved vaccine for COVID-19.
CureVac said that it has been developing foundational technology related to mRNA design, delivery, and production, over the last 22 years, which contributed to creating efficacious and safe COVID-19. Its intellectual property portfolio “protects inventions essential to the BioNTech vaccine’s production,” according to the company.
“CureVac considers the rapid development of these vaccines a tremendous achievement, with unprecedented positive impact for global public health. This achievement is based on decades of scientific research and innovation, supported by CureVac as the earliest pioneer in mRNA technology. Accordingly, CureVac’s intellectual property rights need to be acknowledged and respected,” the company stated.
“Many years of our research have also contributed to the success of the mRNA vaccines and made that possible. From our point of view, it is self-evident to respect the associated property rights,” Franz-Werner Haas, CEO of BioNTech, said in an interview, according to Reuters.
Lina Adams
