Moderna sues Pfizer, BioNTech for patent infringement over Covid-19 vaccine
Moderna, on its own, and the partnership of Pfizer and BioNTech were two of the first groups to develop a vaccine for the novel coronavirus.
Moderna is suing Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech for patent infringement in the development of the first Covid-19 vaccine approved in the United States.
Moderna alleged that Pfizer and BioNTech copied technology that Moderna developed years before the pandemic.
Pfizer shares fell 1.4 per cent before the bell while BioNTech was down about 2 per cent.
The lawsuit, which seeks undetermined monetary damages, was being filed in US District Court in Massachusetts and the Regional Court of Dusseldorf in Germany.
"We are filing these lawsuits to protect the innovative mRNA technology platform that we pioneered, invested billions of dollars in creating, and patented during the decade preceding the Covid-19 pandemic," Moderna said.
