Curevac: Decision expected in patent dispute

Processes - Curevac: Decision expected in patent dispute

While the Tübingen-based biotech company Curevac failed to develop a coronavirus vaccine and is struggling with losses, Biontech became a star during the crisis. Biontech made huge profits and saved an entire city from debt with its taxes.

According to Curevac, the development of its own marketable drug will take years. This means further losses because the money is being spent on research. Curevac is also in the middle of several patent disputes with its billion-dollar Mainz-based competitor Biontech, and serious decisions are soon to be made. The new CEO Alexander Zehnder is confident.

"Patent disputes are very normal in the pharmaceutical industry. This is an industry that is based on innovation and relies on innovation. Once products have been developed, patent law provides a certain protection mechanism. You have a chance of recouping the costs," says Zehnder. Curevac has done a great deal of research over more than 20 years and has built up a strong patent portfolio. "And we believe that the successes that Biontech and Pfizer in particular have achieved with their drugs are based on our inventions and our patents." According to Zehnder, who has been head of Tübingen since April, the dispute with Biontech and Pfizer in Germany concerns eight patents. In the USA, where a very large proportion of the Covid-19 vaccine Corminaty was produced by Biontech, ten patents are at stake.

"December is very important for Curevac"

The Düsseldorf Regional Court recently suspended four ongoing proceedings in the dispute over coronavirus vaccine patents. A final decision is expected on December 28. "If this decision goes in our favor, we could be compensated for the sales that took place during the pandemic. So it's not just for what revenue flows in the future from now on. December is very important for Curevac," says Zehnder. Curevac filed a lawsuit against Biontech and Pfizer in Düsseldorf in July 2022 and demanded "fair compensation" for the infringement of a number of its intellectual property rights that were used by Biontech and Pfizer in the manufacture of the coronavirus vaccine. Zehnder does not want to name a specific sum.

The Federal Patent Court in Munich will hear the dispute between Biontech and Curevac on December 19. The plaintiff in this case is Biontech. The Mainz-based company wants to have a Curevac patent declared null and void. Biontech welcomes the fact that the Düsseldorf Regional Court has suspended the proceedings concerning the "alleged infringements of Curevac's patents and utility models". "This is an important signal because we believe that these patents and utility models should never have been granted by Curevac because they do not meet the requirements for this. We have therefore initiated separate proceedings to have them declared invalid."

Out-of-court settlement?

According to a Biontech spokeswoman, it is not uncommon for other companies in the pharmaceutical industry to claim that a successful drug could potentially infringe their intellectual property rights. Patent matters usually require the involvement of various courts and often multiple court hearings to resolve all patent issues, she said. "We will continue to vigorously defend our innovations against all allegations of patent infringement - including in this case."

Zehnder adds that in more than 90 percent of such patent dispute cases there is an out-of-court settlement between companies. "It is rather rare for companies to wait until the end for a judgment." Biontech only made around 100 billion US dollars from the sale of Corminaty in the three years from 2020 to 2023. "Even a small share of 100 billion is already a very large figure. But I don't want to speculate on how big it could be." However, Curevac is definitely not in a cold war with Biontech.

Many contracts concluded at high prices

Zehnder comments on Curevac's losses: "We do not yet have a commercially approved product. That explains the majority of our losses." Although there is some income, it is still relatively modest. "In 2020, everything happened very, very quickly. We had to make a lot of financial commitments back then, including to suppliers. We signed a lot of contracts, at high prices at the time, because there was so much hype. We will have digested these legacy issues by 2024. Then we will be able to use our money even more for the research and development of our candidates," says Zehnder.

In the pharmaceutical business, "wins and losses" go hand in hand, says the Swiss national. "This is also associated with financial risks. Especially for smaller companies. What is very much in Curevac's favor is that the company has recovered after the hard blow. It has looked at what it needs to change."