Diving overview:
GSK said it owns seven patents that “provide the basis” for Moderna’s messenger RNA vaccine portfolio and is currently suing the biotech company for infringement. The study in question was conducted by a team led by Christian Mandl, who was an executive in Novartis’ vaccines division from 2008 to 2015. Mandl’s team discovered a new formulation and method for preparing mRNA vaccines, overcoming previous hurdles, according to the complaint. The development of successful shots using this technology has long been hampered. The team applied for a patent on their research results in 2010. GSK then acquired Novartis’ intellectual property when it acquired the majority of its vaccines business in 2015. GSK is now claiming that Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine infringes these patents and is seeking damages. A Moderna spokesperson said the company is aware of the lawsuit and intends to defend itself against it.
Dive Insight:
Moderna, along with rivals Pfizer and BioNTech, developed an mRNA vaccine to fight the coronavirus pandemic in less than a year, a stunning public health success. The companies also made billions of dollars in profits and sparked a series of legal battles over related patents.
Moderna fought with the U.S. government over intellectual property claims early in the pandemic. In February 2022, Arbutus Biopharma and Genevant Sciences sued Moderna over patents related to the delivery of mRNA shots. A few weeks later, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals sued both Moderna and Pfizer, alleging that the companies infringed Alnylam’s patents on lipid nanoparticle technology.
This was not the end of the legal battle. CureVac, another mRNA specialist company, sued BioNTech in July 2022. The following month, Moderna sued Pfizer and BioNTech, and a year later they tied the case, asking the U.S. government to reject some of Moderna’s patents.
Earlier this year, GSK also sued Pfizer and BioNTech, alleging infringement of various patents stemming from work by Mandl’s team and former Novartis researcher Andrew Geol.
In the latest lawsuit filed in federal court in Delaware, GSK alleges that Moderna could not have succeeded in developing a coronavirus vaccine so quickly without the work of Mandl’s team.
“Moderna has repeatedly touted the speed with which it was able to produce the original Spikevax vaccine and later refine it to address new virus strains,” GSK said. “But Moderna has consistently failed to acknowledge how it will apply the Mandl team’s innovative platform to do so.”
GSK is asking the jury to award unspecified damages and patent license fees. It also seeks reimbursement of attorney’s fees and expenses incurred in the lawsuit.
