Filing lawsuits in both the U.S. and Germany on Friday, Moderna said it believed the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine violated patented mRNA technology that it had begun developing years before the pandemic took hold.
A spokesperson for Pfizer told Fortune on Friday that Moderna’s lawsuit had been unexpected.
In October 2020—before any COVID vaccines were being used outside clinical trials—Moderna pledged not to enforce its COVID-19–related patents while the pandemic endured.
The company changed course in March of this year, arguing that the pandemic had entered a “new phase” where vaccine supply was no longer creating accessibility issues in many parts of the world.
Messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines have been studied for decades—but the technology was only rolled out for public use with the launch of COVID-19 vaccines.
A spokesperson for Pfizer told Fortune on Friday that Moderna’s lawsuit had been unexpected.
In October 2020—before any COVID vaccines were being used outside clinical trials—Moderna pledged not to enforce its COVID-19–related patents while the pandemic endured.
The company changed course in March of this year, arguing that the pandemic had entered a “new phase” where vaccine supply was no longer creating accessibility issues in many parts of the world.
Messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines have been studied for decades—but the technology was only rolled out for public use with the launch of COVID-19 vaccines.
