Moderna, NIH At Odds Over Who Invented The Biotech's COVID-19 Shot: NYT

  • Moderna Inc’s MRNA ongoing feud with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) over COVID-19 vaccine patents has spilled into the open.
  • Both parties are in dispute over who deserves credit for inventing the central component of the Company’s COVID-19 vaccine.
  • In a new report from the New York Times, Moderna is asserting that three NIH scientists were not involved in inventing the critical component of the vaccine. 
  • The claim comes from a July filing with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
  • Within the filing, Moderna said it had “reached the good-faith determination” that three NIH scientists, John Mascola, Barney Graham, and Kizzmekia Corbett, “did not co-invent” the sequence that prompts the body’s immune response to the coronavirus spike protein. 
  • The NIH had been in talks with Moderna for more than a year to resolve the dispute. According to a government official familiar with the matter, the Company’s July filing caught the agency by surprise. 
  • Though NIH says, the trio worked with Moderna to design the component in question.
  • The NYT reports that the agency would not need Moderna’s permission to license the vaccine technology to other companies, countries, or organizations if the scientists are named on the patent. 
  • Price Action: MRNA shares are down 2.26% at $231.50 during the market session on the last check Wednesday.
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Posted In: BiotechGovernmentNewsHealth CareLegalGeneralBriefsCOVID-19 CoronavirusCOVID-19 Vaccine
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