Bear with Biontech
Curevac has suffered a setback in the patent dispute
December 19, 2023, 3:45 p.m
The biotech company Curevac is losing out in the patent dispute with its rival Biontech. The Tübingen company accuses Biontech of violating several patents with its Covid-19 vaccine. The Federal Patent Court declares the claim invalid.
The biotech company Curevac has suffered a setback in the patent dispute with its rival Biontech. On Tuesday, the Federal Patent Court declared a Europe-wide mRNA basic patent for vaccines in Germany claimed by Curevac to be invalid. “The patent is declared invalid with effect for the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany,” said presiding judge Walter Schramm when the verdict was announced on Tuesday in Munich. Curevac shares collapsed by more than 40 percent in German stock market trading. Curevac announced that it would appeal the decision to the Federal Court of Justice.
Mainz-based Biontech became known for its Covid-19 vaccine, which the company and its partner Pfizer sold billions of times during the corona pandemic. The competitor Curevac accuses Biontech of violating the Tübingen company’s patents and filed a lawsuit with the Düsseldorf regional court in the summer of 2022. Biontech rejected the allegations and is checking whether these intellectual property rights are even valid. The Düsseldorf Regional Court suspended ongoing proceedings on intellectual property rights until their validity was clarified.
The Munich trial was about a lawsuit brought by Biontech against Curevac. Biontech called for Curevac’s patent on vaccines to be declared invalid. In Biontech’s opinion, the European Patent Office wrongly granted the property right in 2010. The patented system for genetic vaccination is not based on an inventive step. Biontech’s argument was met with open ears by the judges. “We are of the preliminary opinion that there is likely to be a lack of inventive step,” Judge Schramm said at the hearing.
The Curevac lawyers were obviously unable to convince the judges of the opposite in the technical discussion with the Biontech lawyers on Tuesday. As usual, the court does not want to provide the reasons for the judgment until later. Curevac pointed out that the proceedings regarding Curevac’s seven remaining intellectual property rights were continuing and were not affected by the judgment. Biontech welcomed the decision of the Federal Patent Court, “which underlines our position on patent issues and makes it clear that our research work is original. Today’s decision is an important signal because we are of the opinion that this patent should never have been granted by Curevac because it does not meet the requirements for this.”
In addition to Curevac, rival Moderna is also suing, which also sees its patents infringed by the Covid-19 vaccine from Biontech and Pfizer. Biontech had rejected the allegations. Curevac had argued that Biontech had benefited from the Tübingen-based pioneering work with its Comirnaty vaccine. However, Curevac had to pull the plug on its own first Covid vaccine during the pandemic due to a lack of effectiveness. “We remain convinced that, as pioneers of mRNA technology and through our ongoing innovation in this field, we have made a significant contribution to safe and effective Covid-19 vaccines,” said CEO Alexander Zehnder after the verdict.