Pfizer used technologies developed by another company in its COVID-19 vaccine, infringing on patents, according to a new lawsuit.
The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine uses lipid nanoparticle (LNP) technology that was developed and patented by Arbutus Biopharma, Arbutus alleges in the new suit, filed on April 4 in U.S. court in New Jersey.
“When the world was thrust into a devastating pandemic and urgently needed LNP technologies to deliver an mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine to cells in the body, the necessary LNP technologies had, fortunately, already been invented by Arbutus’s scientists years before and stood ready for use. Defendants could not have accomplished the feat of creating and manufacturing a vaccine at a speed unprecedented in the history of medicine but for their use of Plaintiffs’ existing and proven LNP technologies,” the suit states.
“Yet Defendants never paid Plaintiffs to use those technologies. And Defendants continue to knowingly use the technologies to make and sell the vaccine, amassing tens of billions of dollars in revenues. Plaintiffs have thus filed this case to obtain fair compensation for their inventions, without which the vaccine would not exist,” it added.
Arbutus is joined by Genevant Sciences, which licenses the technologies that Arbutus patented.
In a joint statement to The Epoch Times, the defendants said: “Pfizer and BioNTech are aware that Arbutus Biopharma and Genevant Sciences have filed an action for infringement with respect to certain U.S. Patents. Please understand that Pfizer and BioNTech will not comment on the companies’ legal strategy.”
Awareness, Attempt to Avoid Lawsuit
Defendants were aware of the patents, the suit asserts, pointing to how BioNTech paid in 2018 to use the lipid nanoparticle technology for cancer and liver disease treatments. Pfizer reviewed a copy of that license agreement as part of its research before reaching a contract with BioNTech on a different project, and as part of the research conducted before collaborating with BioNTech on the COVID-19 vaccine, according to Arbutus and Genevant.
The companies say they tried to avoid going to court by proposing to Pfizer and BioNTech a licensing agreement for the nanoparticle technology.
Arbutus and Genevant notified Pfizer and BioNTech in November 2020, before the vaccine was authorized by any country, that selling or offering to sell the vaccine may infringe on one or more patents and offered “offered to discuss the terms of a collaboration and/or license to further the parties’ goal of ending the COVID-19 pandemic,” according to the suit.
“The letter emphasized that Plaintiffs’ priority was for COVID-19 to be eradicated and assured that ‘we do not intend to file a case asserting patent infringement in the near future’ to ensure vaccine development efforts were in no way impacted,” the companies said.
Pfizer responded by saying it would “reach out in due course” but did not follow up, prompting Genevant to circle back six months later.
With no word coming, Arbutus and Genevant sent a fresh notification of possible patent infringement on Oct. 12, 2021, and another letter expanding the infringement claims in 2022.
But Pfizer and BioNTech have refused to license the technology and have not paid any money to Arbutus or Genevant, the suit says. Pfizer and BioNTech have also refused to provide evidence they did not infringe on the patents, including not providing any product samples.
“During the pandemic, there was an urgent need for LNP technologies to deliver mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines to cells in the human body. We believe that Pfizer and BioNTech could not have created and manufactured effective vaccines at such an unprecedented speed without the existing, proven, and patented LNP technologies owned by Arbutus and licensed to Genevant,” William Collier, president and CEO of Arbutus, said in a statement. “Therefore, we are pursuing legal action against both Pfizer and BioNTech for the unlicensed use of our patented technologies in their COVID-19 vaccines.”
Arbutus and Genevant are asking the court to find that the COVID-19 vaccine infringes on the patents in question and award damages.
Other Cases
Both Pfizer and Moderna are already facing patent infringement cases over their COVID-19 vaccines.
The case brought against Moderna by Arbutus and Genevant is moving to discovery after a judge in March rejected a request to dismiss some of the claims.
Arbutus and Genevant say Moderna also used the Arbutus lipid nanoparticle technology in its vaccine without compensating Arbutus. Moderna has denied the claims.
Moderna also sued Pfizer, alleging Pfizer used technology it had developed. That case has also advanced towards discovery after surviving a motion to dismiss.
CureVac, another company, sued BioNTech over allegedly using CureVac’s technology without compensation, triggering a suit from Pfizer and BioNTech against CureVac. Pfizer and BioNTech said CureVac was trying to profit from their vaccine after the company’s bid to develop its own COVID-19 vaccine failed.
From The Epoch Times
