Moderna has sued Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech for patent infringement in the development of the first COVID-19 vaccine approved in the United States, alleging they copied technology that Moderna developed years before the pandemic.
- Moderna says they are filing the lawsuits to “protect” patented mRNA technology it had created before the COVID-19 pandemic
- US-based Pfizer says it was “surprised” by the lawsuit and will “vigorously defend” against the allegations
- The lawsuit, which seeks undetermined monetary damages, was filed in the US and will also be filed in Germany, where BioNTech is based