Delaware Judge Rejects Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna Bids to Dismiss Bayer mRNA Patent Suits
核心洞察
A federal judge in Delaware denied motions by Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna to dismiss patent lawsuits brought by Bayer (搜索)'s Monsanto unit over mRNA (搜索) technology used in COVID-19 (搜索) vaccines.
Judge William Bryson ruled the vaccine makers failed at an early stage to show US Patent No. 7,741,118 was invalid or not infringed by their shots.
Bayer (搜索) sued in January, alleging the companies copied 1980s Monsanto (搜索) technology for strengthening mRNA (搜索) in crops and used it to stabilize genetic material in vaccines.
A federal judge in Delaware on Monday rejected requests from Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna to dismiss patent lawsuits filed against them by Bayer (搜索)'s Monsanto unit over the messenger RNA technology used in their COVID-19 (搜索) vaccines.
US Circuit Judge William Bryson, sitting at the court by designation, said the vaccine makers failed to show at an early stage of the case that the patent at issue was invalid or not infringed by their shots. The ruling keeps the litigation alive in the US District Court for the District of Delaware.
The patent at the center of the dispute
The patent in question, US Patent No. 7,741,118, deals with bolstering mRNA (搜索) in crops to boost the expression of a pest-resistant protein. Bayer (搜索) sued the companies in January, alleging they copied technology developed by Monsanto (搜索) in the 1980s for strengthening mRNA in crops and used it to stabilize the genetic material in their vaccines.
According to the litigation, Monsanto (搜索) argues the companies used the patent in their COVID-19 (搜索) mRNA (搜索) vaccines "to eliminate 'problem' coding sequences in the building blocks of cells to improve mRNA stability and the amount or quality of protein produced."
Arguments from the vaccine makers
The vaccine makers argued that their manufacturing processes worked differently than Bayer (搜索)'s technology. Moderna also argued that the patent covered an unpatentable "law of nature."
Bryson's decision addressed only the early-stage question of whether the companies had shown the patent was invalid or not infringed. Spokespeople for the companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the decision.
Parallel litigation
Bayer (搜索) has also filed a separate lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson over the same patent in New Jersey federal court. That case is ongoing.
The Delaware cases are Bayer (搜索) CropScience LLC v. Moderna Inc, US District Court for the District of Delaware, No. 1:26-cv-00012, and Bayer CropScience LLC v. Pfizer Inc, US District Court for the District of Delaware, No. 1:26-cv-00013.