Post-Pandemic Fights Loom Over Ownership of Covid-19 Technology

Drug manufacturers haven’t spent time fighting over their technology as they race to find a vaccine for the coronavirus: After all, the optics of suing in the middle of a pandemic aren’t good.

But as medicines begin hitting the market, and breakthrough technologies are applied to other types of vaccines or treatments for cancer and other diseases, patent disputes could emerge in an industry that is known for closely guarding its intellectual property.

One example: While Moderna Inc., a front-runner in the race for a Covid-19 vaccine, has promised not ...