Written by Blake Britten
(Reuters) – British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline on Tuesday accused its U.S. rival of infringing GSK’s patent rights in messenger RNA (mRNA) technology with its blockbuster coronavirus vaccine Spikevax. , filed suit against Moderna in U.S. federal court in Delaware.
Moderna’s lipid nanoparticles for transporting fragile mRNA into the human body infringe several GSK patents covering similar innovations, according to the two lawsuits. In April, GSK filed a related lawsuit against Pfizer and BioNTech in the same court over their coronavirus vaccines. The new lawsuit seeks unspecified monetary damages.
A Moderna spokesperson said the company is aware of the new lawsuit and will defend itself against the claims. A GSK spokesperson said the drug company is “open to licensing these patents on commercially reasonable terms to ensure continued access for patients.”
The lawsuit joins a web of U.S. lawsuits involving Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna over royalties for technology used in vaccines, including a lawsuit Moderna filed against Pfizer in 2022.
Moderna made $6.7 billion in revenue from Spikebucks last year. Pfizer made $11.2 billion selling its own and BioNTech’s vaccine Comirnaty. Sales of both vaccines fell significantly last year from 2022.
GSK said in the new lawsuit that its patents cover mRNA technology that was pioneered in 2008 and provides “the foundation for Moderna’s mRNA vaccine portfolio.” GSK said it bought the rights to the invention when it acquired part of Novartis’ vaccines business in 2015.
(Reporting by Blake Brittain; Editing by David Bario and Will Dunham)
