Pharmaceuticals - Court declares Curevac's vaccine patent null and void
The Federal Patent Court has declared a fundamental coronavirus vaccine patent held by the Tübingen-based pharmaceutical company Curevac to be invalid. The court thus upheld a lawsuit brought against Curevac by Mainz-based competitor Biontech on Tuesday. The shares of the Tübingen-based company subsequently lost a good third of their value.
Curevac announced that it would appeal to the Federal Court of Justice. The company applied for the disputed patent in 2007 and was granted by the European Patent Office for 20 countries in 2010. It concerns a method of overcoming the disadvantages of vaccines with the messenger molecule mRNA and increasing their effectiveness.
The Federal Patent Court has now declared it invalid in Germany. Other national patent courts often follow the decisions of the Munich judges.
The Munich proceedings are only one part of the dispute between the two companies - albeit a very decisive one. In July 2022, Curevac sued Biontech and its US partner Pfizer for damages at the Düsseldorf Regional Court for alleged infringement of several of its patents. Curevac is demanding "fair compensation" for the infringement of its intellectual property rights, which Biontech and Pfizer are alleged to have used in the successful production of their coronavirus vaccine.
The dispute is about a lot of money: Biontech made a profit of 10.3 billion euros in 2021 and a bottom line of 9.4 billion euros in 2022.
In return, Biontech brought an action before the Federal Patent Court in Munich and successfully demanded that a fundamental Curevac patent be declared null and void. It was not based on an invention. The Düsseldorf Regional Court adjourned the proceedings there until December 28 in order to await the decision of the federal judges.
Curevac failed to bring a coronavirus vaccine onto the market in time. However, the company claims to have developed basic technologies that have contributed significantly to the development of effective Covid-19 vaccines: it "pioneered the potential of mRNA to treat diseases and produce vaccines".
Biontech welcomed the decision of the Federal Patent Court. It makes it clear "that our research work is original". Biontech developed the world's first approved Covid-19 vaccine, Comirnaty, in 2020. This made it possible to vaccinate more than one billion people worldwide.
After the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, the German government also acquired a stake in Curevac. However, the company with a good 1,000 employees was unable to produce a coronavirus vaccine. It does not yet have a commercially approved product and is in the red.
According to Curevac, the dispute with Biontech and Pfizer in Germany is about eight patents. In the USA, where a very large proportion of the coronavirus vaccine was produced, ten patents are at issue.
In the meantime, the market for Covid-19 vaccines has collapsed. Biontech is also struggling with shrinking sales. US partner Pfizer had to write down billions on its inventories and slipped into the red last quarter. Moderna reported a billion-euro loss for the third quarter.
Federal Patent Court on the Curavec proceedings in the patent dispute with Biontech
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- The pharmaceutical Industry is closely following the ruling of the Federal Patent Court regarding Curevac's vaccine patent in Germany.
- Biontech, a Pharmaceutical company based in Mainz, successfully challenged Curevac's patent at the Federal Patent Court, which pertains to a coronavirus vaccine and its production process using the messenger molecule mRNA.
- The nullification of the patent by the Federal Patent Court in Munich impacts Biontech's competitor, Curevac, which initially applied for the patent in 2007 and eventually received it from the European Patent Office in 2010.
- Pfizer, a US partner of Biontech, has also been involved in the dispute, with Curevac accusing them of infringing on several of its patents in relation to the production of their coronavirus vaccine.
- The patent dispute between Curevac and Biontech extends beyond Germany, with several patents at issue in the USA, where a large proportion of the coronavirus vaccine was produced.
- The Federal Patent Court's decision in Munich has implications for other national patent courts, as they often follow the decisions made by German judges.
- Curevac, with its headquarters in Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, and over 1,000 employees, has yet to bring a commercially approved coronavirus vaccine to market and is currently operating at a loss.
- Biontech, which developed the world's first approved Covid-19 vaccine, Comirnaty, has faced recent challenges with shrinking sales, while US partner Pfizer has had to write down billions on its inventories and reported a loss last quarter.
- As part of the patent dispute, Curevac has also sued Biontech and Pfizer at the Düsseldorf Regional Court for allegedly using processes protected by its patents in the production of their coronavirus vaccine.
- The Regional Court in Rhineland-Palatinate adjourned the proceedings until December 28 to await the decision of the Federal Patent Court, as Curevac plans to appeal the nullification of its vaccine patent to the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe.
Source: www.stern.de
