A British drugmaker, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), has sued American pharmaceutical company Moderna claiming it violated patent rights in its mRNA technology used to develop its COVID-19 and RSV vaccines.
GSK filed two lawsuits – one for Spikevax and one for mResvia — in federal court in Delaware this week. The lawsuits allege Moderna infringed on the company’s patents for lipid mRNA vaccine technology.
The lawsuits stated Christian Mandl and his team of scientists are credited for developing novel lipid-mRNA formulations and methods for their preparation in 2008.
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Years later, when Mandl and his team began working on mRNA vaccines they were employed by Novartis AG, the lawsuits said. GSK acquired a large portion of Novartis’ vaccine business in 2015. The acquisition included Mandl and his team’s inventions and all the rights to the patents.
GSK claimed Moderna did not begin working on mRNA vaccines until after Mandl’s work became public and cited his patents in its own patent applications since at least 2013.
The lawsuits are seeking unspecified monetary damages and GSK has requested a jury trial.
Ironically, Moderna filed lawsuits against Pfizer and German drugmaker BioNTech in 2022 accusing them of copying their technology to make COVID-19 vaccines.
