Covid-19 patent lawsuits: Will vaccine producers have to pay the bill?

In a new chapter with emerging legal dimensions for the Covid-19 vaccine success story, last week Moderna submitted a filing to take down a patent infringement lawsuit over its Covid-19 vaccine. In a claim filed on 28 February, Arbutus Biopharma and Genevant Sciences stated that Moderna infringed on their patented lipid nanoparticle (LNP) technology, and as such, were due damages from Moderna. Later in March, Pfizer’s Canada-based LNP partner Acuitas Therapeutics filed a complaint against Arbutus and Genevant in the US district court for the southern district of New York, asking for a judgement on the non-infringement and invalidity of such patents.