Pfizer, Moderna lose bids to escape Bayer US mRNA patent lawsuit
PFE•A federal judge in Delaware rejected Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna’s requests to dismiss patent lawsuits filed by Bayer’s Monsanto unit over mRNA technology used in their COVID-19 vaccines.
1. Judge rejects dismissal bids
Judge William Bryson said the vaccine makers had not shown at this early stage that the patent was invalid or that their vaccines did not infringe it. Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna argued that their manufacturing processes differed from Bayer’s technology, and Moderna also argued the patent covered an unpatentable “law of nature.”
2. Bayer claims copied technology
Bayer sued the companies in January, alleging they copied technology Monsanto developed in the 1980s to strengthen mRNA in crops and used it to stabilize genetic material in their vaccines. Bayer has filed a separate, ongoing lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson over the patent in New Jersey.
