Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

Item 1 of 2 A vial labelled "CureVac COVID-19 Vaccine" is seen in this illustration taken January 16, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

[1/2]A vial labelled "CureVac COVID-19 Vaccine" is seen in this illustration taken January 16, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

CompaniesApril 24 (Reuters) - German biotech company CureVac sued Moderna (MRNA.O), opens new tab in Delaware federal court on Friday, alleging ​that Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine Spikevax infringed CureVac ‌patents related to messenger RNA (mRNA) technology.

CureVac said in the lawsuit, opens new tab that Moderna copied its technology for stabilizing fragile mRNA to ​use in vaccines and requested royalties from ​Moderna's Spikevax sales in damages.

Jumpstart your morning with the latest legal news delivered straight to your inbox from The Daily Docket newsletter. Sign up here.

Germany-based BioNTech (22UAy.DE), opens new tab -- which partnered ⁠with Pfizer (PFE.N), opens new tab to create the competing COVID-19 vaccine ​Comirnaty -- acquired CureVac last year. BioNTech filed a separate ​U.S. patent lawsuit against Moderna over its next-generation mNEXSPIKE COVID-19 shot in February.

Moderna said in a statement that it was aware ​of the lawsuit filed on Friday and will ​defend itself. Spokespeople for CureVac and BioNTech did not immediately ‌respond ⁠to requests for comment on the lawsuit.

The case is part of a wave of high-stakes patent lawsuits from biotech companies seeking royalties for the technology used ​in blockbuster ​COVID-19 vaccines. ⁠Moderna sued Pfizer and BioNTech for patent infringement over Comirnaty in 2022, in a ​lawsuit that is ongoing.

Companies including GlaxoSmithKline, Bayer and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals ​have ⁠also filed patent lawsuits seeking shares of the companies' tens of billions of dollars of revenue from ⁠COVID-19 ​vaccine sales.

CureVac's Friday lawsuit accused ​Moderna of infringing eight of its U.S. patents.

Reporting by Blake Brittain ​in Washington, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Edward Tobin

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Blake Brittain reports on intellectual property law, including patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets, for Reuters Legal. He has previously written for Bloomberg Law and Thomson Reuters Practical Law and practiced as an attorney.