Moderna, Pfizer Face New Covid-Vaccine Patent-Royalty Lawsuits

A biotech firm filed two lawsuits seeking Covid-19 vaccine royalties for alleged infringement of a patent related to increased protein expression by collaborators Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE and, separately, by Moderna Inc.

Promosome LLC accused Moderna of unlawfully incorporating the Stamford, Conn.-based company’s patented method for increasing the production of proteins using messenger RNA into its Covid-19 vaccine, Spikevax, years after Promosome’s attempts to license it to Moderna were rebuffed, according to a complaint filed Tuesday in the US District Court for the Southern District of California.

The technology enables the generation of higher quantities of proteins that can ...