British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has filed a lawsuit against Moderna in a US federal court in Delaware, accusing the American company of infringing on GSK’s patent rights related to messenger RNA (mRNA) technology with its COVID-19 vaccine, Spikevax.
According to the lawsuits, Moderna’s use of lipid nanoparticles to deliver fragile mRNA into the human body infringes on several GSK patents that cover similar innovations. This follows a related lawsuit GSK filed against Pfizer and BioNTech in the same court in April regarding their COVID-19 vaccine.
The new litigation seeks unspecified monetary damages. A Moderna spokesperson acknowledged the new lawsuit and stated that the company would defend itself against the claims. A GSK spokesperson mentioned that the drugmaker is “willing to license these on commercially reasonable terms to ensure continued patient access.”
These lawsuits are part of a complex network of US court cases involving Pfizer, BioNTech, and Moderna over patent royalties for the technology used in their vaccines. This includes a lawsuit brought by Moderna against Pfizer in 2022. Moderna earned $6.7 billion in revenue from Spikevax last year, while Pfizer made $11.2 billion from sales of its and BioNTech’s vaccine, Comirnaty. Both vaccines saw significant declines in sales last year compared to 2022.
GSK stated in the new litigation that its patents cover mRNA technology pioneered in 2008, which forms “the foundation for Moderna’s mRNA vaccine portfolio.” GSK acquired the rights to these inventions when it purchased part of Novartis’ vaccine business in 2015.
