(Reuters) -Germany’s CureVac and Britain’s GSK have settled a years-long patent dispute with Pfizer and its partner BioNTech over the mRNA vaccine technology that was at the forefront of the world’s fight against COVID-19. The settlement of a lawsuit filed three years ago over mRNA-based COVID vaccines comes after BioNTech agreed to buy its German […]
Health
CureVac and GSK settle mRNA patent dispute with Pfizer and BioNTech
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(Reuters) -Germany’s CureVac and Britain’s GSK have settled a years-long patent dispute with Pfizer and its partner BioNTech over the mRNA vaccine technology that was at the forefront of the world’s fight against COVID-19.
The settlement of a lawsuit filed three years ago over mRNA-based COVID vaccines comes after BioNTech agreed to buy its German peer CureVac in a $1.25 billion all-stock deal in June to boost its work on new mRNA-based cancer treatments.
Messenger RNA (mRNA) technology rapidly advanced during the COVID-19 pandemic, with its mechanism to inject fragments of genetic code to stimulate an immune response in patients becoming a success first with Moderna, before others jumped in.
As part of the settlement, CureVac and its partner GSK will receive $740 million and single-digit percentage royalties on sales of COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S. going forward, CureVac said.
CureVac had sought fair compensation for alleged infringement of its intellectual property rights.
CureVac and GSK’s efforts to develop an mRNA-based COVID vaccine did not come to fruition during the pandemic, but they have since continued to test the technology in developing other products, including against influenza or combination vaccines.
BioNTech and Pfizer, meanwhile, chalked up more than $40 billion in combined vaccine sales in 2021 and 2022 from their Comirnaty COVID vaccine.
GSK said on Friday its share of the settlement payment was $370 million, with $50 million going towards adjusting arrangements agreed as part of its 2024 licence agreement with CureVac, which built on their pandemic-era collaboration.
GSK’s London-listed shares were up 1.3% in early trading.
If BioNTech successfully closes its takeover of CureVac, the German companies’ mRNA litigation outside the U.S. would be settled too, GSK added, with the British group getting another $130 million and royalties being extended to non-U.S. sales.
CureVac said its takeover deal with BioNTech would be implemented as planned and terms remained unchanged.
CureVac said on Thursday it would also grant BioNTech and Pfizer a non-exclusive licence to manufacture, use, import and sell mRNA-based COVID-19 and influenza products in the United States.
GSK has its own separate patent litigations against Pfizer and BioNTech in the U.S. and Europe, which it said are not affected by this settlement.
(Reporting by Shivani Tanna, Angela Christy, Mrinmay Dey and Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru. Editing by Rashmi Aich and Mark Potter)