Pfizer and BioNTech are rebutting allegations that they infringed on COVID-19 technology patents, contradicting CureVac’s claims.
Earlier this week, the COVID vaccine partners filed a joint complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, where the two say that there is “actual, immediate, substantial and justiciable controversy,” over whether or not Comirnaty infringed on any patents.
Pfizer and BioNTech are imploring the court to stop CureVac from filing any further infringement claims, in what the companies are calling an “attempt to profit from the success of BioNTech and Pfizer through threats of patent infringement.” In the complaint, Pfizer and BioNTech call out CureVac, saying the company is "unable to bring to market any product to help in the fight against COVID-19."
It seemed that CureVac was looking to move past its COVID vax shortcomings, inking a deal earlier this year to buy bioinformatics startup, Frame Cancer Therapeutics, with the aim of boosting development of cancer vaccines. Despite the recent suits filed against Pfizer and BioNTech, CureVac officially ended its efforts to win approval for its first-generation mRNA COVID-19 vaccine last Oct. after the company's mRNA candidate was shown to only be about 48% effective in a pivotal study.