Pharma giants battle over COVID-19 patents in London courts

Two key players in the COVID-19 vaccine story – Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna – have begun the latest chapter of their global legal battle over patents concerning technology for the development of mRNA therapeutics such as the COVID-19 vaccines. 

In the most recent phase of their legal battles, pharmaceutical heavyweights Pfizer and Moderna are in the UK courts with competing lawsuits regarding the mRNA technology that formed the basis for each company’s respective COVID-19 vaccine. These lawsuits are only a part of the ongoing global litigations between the two companies. Moderna has claimed that Pfizer/BioNTech copied mRNA technology that the former patented well before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Pfizer/BioNTech have argued that the work Moderna claims to have pioneered are simply improvements on previous work.  

Moderna’s Spikevax vaccine and Pfizer/BioNTech’s Comirnaty emerged as the most profitable vaccines to emerge from the pandemic. Spikevax generated US$18.4 billion in 2022 for Moderna. Pfizer earned $US37.8 billion for their vaccine in 2022, splitting the profits with BioNTech, who emerged with US$17 billion. The vaccines were the first of their kind to be approved using mRNA technology, instructing cells to create their own version of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and inducing an immune response.  

The London lawsuits are set to be held over three separate trials. Issues raised include disputed patents on vaccines for respiratory viruses based on mRNA technology, while others focus on how these technologies are delivered. One lawsuit will take into consideration Moderna’s pledge at the beginning of the pandemic not to enforce patents for vaccines “intended to combat the pandemic”. However, the pledge was amended in March 2022 to seek damages after this period. The argument hinges on when the pandemic was officially declared as ‘ended’. Pfizer/BioNTech are expected to dispute Moderna’s ability to withdraw this pledge given that the WHO did not declare an end to COVID-19 as a ‘global health emergency’ until March 2023.  

Litigations in other countries and regulatory regions are holding their own parallel trials, with proceedings occurring in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and the United States. Whatever the verdict, the result is expected to hold significant impact for European courts under the European Patent Convention. 

Sources: 

1. Pfizer vs Modern battle over COVID vaccine patents begins in UK [Accessed April 23, 2024] https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/pfizer-vs-moderna-battle-over-covid-vaccine-patents-begins-uk-2024-04-23/ 

2. COVID vaccine makers to clash in London over mRNA patent dispute [Accessed April 24, 2024] https://www.ft.com/content/41d9ec34-4bea-445f-98f4-27a20b9f4445