Moderna Discloses Patent Hurdle for Its COVID-19 Vaccine

Moderna said that it might not be the first company to make the inventions claimed on patent applications for its COVID-19 vaccine mRNA-1273, and that the company may have to seek patent licenses to market the vaccine.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Massachusetts drugmaker said it can’t be certain that it was the first to file for the patent protections and noted that many companies hold patents on the technology needed for the vaccine, such as oligonucleotide delivery methods.

The company said it may have to secure licenses from patent holders, and that the vaccine’s success is now partly dependent on whether the companies it gets the licenses from can maintain their patents in an industry that is rife with patent challenges.

In addition, if the terms of a license were to be unfavorable, the company may be “unable to perform research and development or other activities or market products, including mRNA-1273, covered by such patents,” Moderna said in its filing.

Last month, the company lost a patent challenge against Canadian drugmaker Arbutus Biopharma over an Arbutus patent on lipid nanoparticle technology. At the time, Moderna said it was “not aware of any significant intellectual property impediments for any products we intend to commercialize, including mRNA-1273” (DID, July 27).

Read Moderna’s SEC filing here: bit.ly/3kzAiRj. — Jordan Williams