German biopharmaceutical company CureVac sued BioNTech on Tuesday, seeking “fair compensation” for infringing intellectual property rights related to the mRNA technology used to develop a coronavirus vaccine by BioNTech and its partner Pfizer.
CureVac’s intellectual property portfolio protects several patents essential to the design and development of BioNTech’s SARS CoV-2 mRNA vaccine, CureVac said in a statement on Tuesday.
Fox Business reported that BioNTech responded by saying the company would “vigorously” defend its work “against all allegations of patent infringement.”
“We recognize that it is not unusual for other companies in the pharmaceutical industry who have seen the success of COMIRNATY® to now believe that the vaccine may infringe their intellectual property rights,” the German company added in a statement.
COMIRNATY® is a Pfizer/Biontech vaccine brand and integrates community, immunity, mRNA and COVID.
Biontech initially partnered with Pfizer to develop an mRNA-based flu vaccine in 2018, but focused on an emerging coronavirus vaccine at the start of the pandemic in early 2020.
CureVac has been trying to develop its own anti-coronavirus vaccine and began clinical trials of a second-generation vaccine candidate earlier this year in partnership with Britain’s GSK.
CureVac said its intellectual property portfolio includes several inventions related to engineered mRNA molecules, such as “sequence modifications to increase stability and enhance protein expression, as well as vaccine mRNA formulations for SARS CoV-2 vaccines.”
The company confirmed that it will not seek an injunction or attempt to stop Pfizer and Biontech from producing the coronavirus vaccine while the lawsuit is pending in German courts.
Source: Lebanon Debate
