CureVac is suing BioNTech for allegedly infringing its patents on its Cominarty COVID shot that is being developed in partnership with Pfizer. The case could bring in the $20 billion of the covid vaccine revenue could be subjected to the suit.
CureVac claims that three of their patents were infringed in the rapid vaccine production by BioNTech, with a fourth patent that expired in June 2022.
The company asserts that they have no intention of halting the production of the vaccine in a pandemic period, they just seek recognition and royalties from all past sales and future sales. The company noted their rights over their intellectual property must be recognized in order to allow further reinvestment into development of newer mRNA technology and other lifesaving technologies.
The infringements are related to patents on the engineering of mRNA molecules and is one of the foundational patents for mRNA sequence optimization. This technology is what is claimed to be used in the vaccines developed by BioNTech.
BioNTech however claims that the work on their vaccine is original and does not infringe any of the alleged patents owned by Cure Vac. They also further state that many pharmaceutical companies often claim infringement of their intellectual property after witnessing the success of Cominarty.
BioNTech has also previously been sued over patent infringements over the same vaccine shot by Allele Biotechnology in October 2020.
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