[U: Added Thoughts] Moderna Sues Pfizer For Patent Infringement, In COVID-19 Vaccines Technology And Methods Case...

Updated: added thoughts; patents compared to "o" RNA tech, in a new post. End, update.

In truth, I don't intend to cover this rather run-of-the-mill biotech patent case in much detail. It is often true that two similar biotech based vaccines may rely on overlapping methods of manufacture. The question will be whose patent covers it, and whether one or the other is willing to pay a royalty of typically less than one per cent. . . to keep doing it the same way.

[Hint: Pfizer will pay Moderna. Y A W N.] No, the real news here is that once the principle is established, Pfizer will have to keep paying, should it develop vaccines or other therapies for cancers, using the same approach. [But that day is likely more than a decade off, into the future -- if it arrives at all.] Thus this news will not affect either stock materially, even as the morning's Jackson Hole commentary from the Chair. . . causes a downdraft in prices, sector -- and market -- wide.

So -- here is the news:

. . .Moderna believes that Pfizer and BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty^® infringes patents Moderna filed between 2010 and 2016 covering Moderna's foundational mRNA technology. This groundbreaking technology was critical to the development of Moderna's own mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, Spikevax^®. Pfizer and BioNTech copied this technology, without Moderna's permission, to make Comirnaty^®.

"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," said Moderna Chief Executive Officer Stéphane Bancel."This foundational platform, which we began building in 2010, along with our patented work on coronaviruses in 2015 and 2016, enabled us to produce a safe and highly effective COVID-19 vaccine in record time after the pandemic struck. As we work to combat health challenges moving forward, Moderna is using our mRNA technology platform to develop medicines that could treat and prevent infectious diseases like influenza and HIV, as well as autoimmune and cardiovascular diseases and rare forms of cancer. . . ."

So. . . now you know. And onward to a sunny, live music filled weekend. Grinning. . . . 45 years on, now. A dance / date. Smiling. . . .

नमस्ते