Moderna (MRNA) faces a lawsuit in the U.S. for allegedly infringing patent rights related to the COVID-19 shot developed by Pfizer (PFE) and BioNTech (BNTX), marking the latest such case among COVID-19 vaccine makers.
German vaccine maker BioNTech (BNTX) sued the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotech company on Thursday, alleging that Moderna’s (MRNA) COVID-19 vaccine, mNEXSPIKE, violates a patent related to its rival shot, Comirnaty.
The lawsuit filed in Delaware federal court claimed that mNEXSPIKE, which was approved by the U.S. FDA in 2025, infringed upon BioNTech’s (BNTX) Patent No. 12,133,899.
The patent in question covers a streamlined messenger RNA-based vaccine design that BioNTech (BNTX) claimed it discovered while developing Comirnaty with its partner Pfizer (PFE). However, the New York-based pharma giant is not directly involved in the case.
The messenger RNA-based vaccine is expected to account for 55% of Moderna’s (MRNA) vaccine revenue during the 2025/26 respiratory virus season, according to the suit.
A Moderna (MRNA) spokesperson told Bloomberg that it is aware of the lawsuit and “will defend ourselves against these claims.” BioNTech (BNTX) wasn’t immediately available for requests for comments.
The lawsuit marked the latest patent row among the COVID-19 vaccine makers. Moderna (MRNA) filed lawsuits against Pfizer (PFE) and BioNTech (BNTX) in 2022, claiming their COVID-19 vaccine infringed upon its patent rights.