CureVac (NASDAQ:CVAC) has filed a patent lawsuit in Germany against BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) in what is one of the first court cases in which a company has sued another for using mRNA technology in developing a coronavirus vaccine.
According to Germany-based CureVac, it will "assert its intellectual property rights, accumulated over more than two decades of pioneering work in mRNA technology, which contributed to Covid-19 vaccine development", and is seeking "fair compensation" from BioNTech and two subsidiaries.
Asked about possible future legal action in a media call, chief executive Franz-Werner Haas did not rule out further litigation against BioNTech partner Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) or mRNA vaccine producer Moderna Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:MRNA).
Haas also did not provide a value that CureVac would see as fair compensation.
CureVac posted a loss of US$423mln in 2021.
BioNTech developed the Comirnaty jab in partnership with Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE), which was the first Covid-19 vaccine approved in western countries and is now one of the most widely used vaccines worldwide.
With the pandemic easing, BioNTech expects to generate up to €17bn in vaccine revenue this year, down from €19bn last year.
CureVac reportedly said it was not seeking an injunction nor intending to take any legal action to halt the production or distribution of the vaccine.
During the peak of the pandemic, CureVac would not have thought to point out patent infringement, but now that the pandemic is under better control, Haas said he believes now is the right time.
As a result of last year's failure to commercialise a COVID-19 vaccine, CureVac intensified its work with partner GSK PLC (LSE:GSK, NYSE:GSK) on improved versions, and also entered a €150mln collaboration with the UK drug major.
Preclinical studies showed CureVac and GSK's second-generation vaccine candidate targeting two recent COVID-19 variants were highly effective, the companies said this April.
BioNTech and Pfizer dominated the field in the Western world after the Covid-19 pandemic spurred a race among pharmaceutical companies to develop a vaccine.
According to clinical trial results in May, Pfizer/BioNTech said third vaccine dose is 80% effective against Omicron in kids.
While Pfizer and BioNTech also began trials of Omicron specific vaccine in January, Moderna Inc unveiled a new Omicron Covid-19 vaccine the same month.