Pfizer, BioNTech challenge Moderna’s COVID vaccine patent win in U.K.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX), its partner for the Comirnaty COVID-19 vaccine, made legal submissions to London’s Court of Appeal on Thursday seeking to overturn a prior court ruling that granted a patent win for their rival Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA).

The companies want to overturn a prior high court ruling, in which Judge Richard Meade found that one of the patents asserted by Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) related to the messenger RNA technology that was the basis for its Spikevax COVID-19 vaccine was valid.

In the July 2024 ruling, Judge Meade found that Moderna’s (NASDAQ:MRNA) other patent was invalid. The duo is seeking to overturn his decision that validated one of Moderna’s (MRNA) patents after the judge gave them the go-ahead to appeal the ruling.

The case is part of a high-stakes legal dispute that the trio are engaged in across multiple countries. Comirnaty generated more than $3.3B in global sales last year, while Spikevax added $3.2B.

In Germany, a court in the city of Düsseldorf ruled in March that Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) violated a COVID-19 vaccine patent asserted by Moderna (MRNA).

In March, the companies convinced a U.S. Patent Office tribunal to determine that two of Moderna’s (MRNA) patents related to COVID vaccine technology were invalid.