German biotechnology company CureVac has filed a new lawsuit against U.S.-based Moderna, alleging patent infringement related to the technology used in COVID-19 vaccines.
The case, lodged in a U.S. federal court in Delaware, claims that Moderna’s vaccine, Spikevax, unlawfully incorporates key elements of CureVac’s proprietary messenger RNA (mRNA) platform.
CureVac argues that its patented methods for stabilizing mRNA molecules—critical for ensuring vaccine effectiveness—were used without authorization. In its filing, CureVac is seeking financial damages and royalties tied to global sales of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine, which generated billions of dollars in revenue during the pandemic. Moderna has not yet publicly responded to the latest complaint.
The company has previously defended its intellectual property, maintaining that its mRNA technology was independently developed. The lawsuit is the latest development in a series of high-profile legal disputes over mRNA technology, a field that saw rapid advancement and commercialization during the COVID-19 pandemic. Several pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer and BioNTech, have also been involved in ongoing patent litigation over similar technologies.
Legal experts say the outcome of the case could have significant implications for the biotechnology industry, particularly in determining ownership rights over mRNA innovations that are now being applied beyond COVID-19 to areas such as cancer treatments and other infectious diseases.
CureVac, once a frontrunner in the race to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, did not achieve the same commercial success as some competitors but has continued to pursue its mRNA research and defend its intellectual property portfolio. The case is expected to add further complexity to the evolving legal landscape surrounding next-generation vaccine technologies.
