Drug giant Moderna is to sue BioNTech and Pfizer, claiming that their covid vaccine infringed its patents on the mRNA technology used to develop it.
In October 2020, Moderna vowed to forego enforcement of its COVID-related patents amid the pandemic, the company said. In March, however, the pandemic "entered a new phase and vaccine supply was no longer a barrier to access in many parts of the world," the company added. Moderna would never enforce patents in 92 middle- and low-income countries involved with a financing agreement at the global vaccine alliance Gavi, the company said. But, in other markets, Moderna expected competitors to respect intellectual property rights, it added.
The incredible sums of public money poured into these companies during the pandemic must be quite an incentive to get cracking on this. From tragedy to farce, on top of a vast mountain of Covid cash.
