Back in the closing half of 2020, when finding a COVID-19 vaccine was all any biotech company could dream of, Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) were one of the first teams to actually pull it off. But the process hardly went off without a hitch, and now, CureVac (NASDAQ:CVAC) and its attempt to sue Pfizer and BioNTech over patent issues in the development of COVID-19 vaccines are carrying on that much more rapidly. CureVac added over 3% at the time of writing as a result.
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With the latest court news, we find that CureVac’s move to transfer the current litigation has been approved by the federal district court of Massachusetts. The lawsuit is now in the hands of Virginia’s Eastern District, and a trial should follow at some point in 2024 as a result. CureVac alleged that Pfizer and BioNTech infringed on CureVac’s patents in nine different cases in order to create the COVID-19 vaccine.
More specifically, based on a statement from CureVac CEO Dr. Alexander Zehnder, Pfizer and BioNTech’s infringement of CureVac’s mRNA patents allowed Pfizer and BioNTech to more rapidly develop the COVID-19 vaccines. Thus, CureVac should be paid a portion of the vast sums of cash that Pfizer and BioNTech realized following the vaccine’s development and release. This isn’t the first time that such challenges have emerged. Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) actually sued the duo over Pfizer and BioNTech copying its own mRNA work.
A look at the last five trading days for CureVac stock shows a volatile trading pattern. While share prices are up since CureVac announced the suit was moving, share prices are actually lower now than they were a couple of days ago.
