Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. hasn’t given up its battle for royalties with Pfizer and Moderna, which are mass-producing mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.
Reuters It is understood that Alnylam filed a new lawsuit on Friday, claiming that Pfizer and Moderna infringed patents on its COVID-19 vaccine.
The new cases are Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. v. Pfizer Inc., U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, No. 1:23-cv-00578, and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. v. Moderna Inc., U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, Delaware , No. 1:23-cv-00580.
The Cambridge, Mass.-based company claimed in its lawsuit that Pfizer and Moderna infringed its patents on lipid nanoparticle (LNP) technology — the same technology used by mRNA vaccines to deliver genetic material into the body.
Alnylam said in the lawsuit, filed in federal court in Delaware, that it pioneered the LNP technology more than a decade ago and even provided Moderna with confidential information about the technology in 2014 when discussing a potential collaboration.
It would be the third time Alnylm has entered into a legal battle with the two companies as it seeks an unspecified share of royalties from Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccine sales.
According to Reuters, Pfizer earned $37.8 billion in 2022 from the sale of its COVID vaccine Comirnaty. Moderna, on the other hand, earned $18.4 billion from its Spikevax vaccine.
Alnylam first sued the two companies last March. Last July, it filed additional litigation over the LNP patent. However, the second pair of complaints was later consolidated with the earlier lawsuit.
The third filing includes four new infringement claims against Pfizer and three new claims against Moderna, which also filed legal action against Pfizer in Massachusetts last year.
Representatives for all parties involved did not immediately respond when Reuters asked for comment on the new lawsuit.
Last month, Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech SE also received a Sued by Arbutus Biopharma in New Jersey claiming their mRNA COVID-19 vaccine infringes five patents of the virology-focused biotech.
Arbutus is seeking damages, including reasonable royalties, for use of the same LNP delivery technology in the Pfizer/BioNTech mRNA vaccine. The same company sued Moderna last year over a similar claim, seeking royalties.
Published by Medicaldaily.com