Clinical stage biopharma company Arbutus has finally put an end to the question of whether it would sue Moderna for patent infringement after the latter lost a legal bid to invalidate the two patents of the former in its COVID-19 vaccine in December 2021.
Arbutus Biopharma Corp and Roivant’s Genevant Sciences Corp recently filed a lawsuit against Moderna in the U.S. district court of Delaware, accusing the mRNA vaccine giant of infringing six patents during the production and sale of its COVID-19 vaccine.
According to Arbutus and Genevant, the patents are linked to nucleic acid-lipid particles and lip vesicles, along with the compositions and methods for use.
It is worth noting that the lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), which safeguard and deliver genetic material such as mRNA as it courses through the body, are used in both Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 shots, as per credible sources.
The plaintiff companies, however, won’t come in Moderna’s way amid the pandemic. Matthew Gline, CEO at Roivant, said that they are not seeking an injunction and do not want Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine from reaching as many people as possible.
Genevant’s goal falls in line with that of Moderna and BioNTech regarding the expansion of mRNA vaccine production globally by establishing manufacturing hubs in areas like Africa. The WHO is also doubling down its efforts towards extending mRNA technology to underserved countries by reformulating Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine through public information at its technology transfer hub in South Africa.
As for the lawsuit, the two companies are seeking compensation for Moderna’s infringement, with no less than an appropriate royalty for all infringing sales and other dispositions of the accused product, according to the filing.
Moderna sales of its mRNA vaccine for full-year 2021 reached USD 17.7 billion and anticipate around USD 22 billion this year. Even a small portion of the profits would greatly benefit Arbutus and Genevant.
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