Northwestern University sues Moderna (MRNA.US) COVID-19 vaccine for infringing its patented LNP technology

The Zhitong Finance App learned that on Wednesday, Northwestern University (Northwestern University) filed a new patent lawsuit against Moderna (MRNA.US) in the Delaware federal court, accusing the company of misusing the university's innovative results to develop its major COVID-19 vaccine, Spikevax.

The lawsuit alleges that Moderna used lipid nanoparticle (LNP) technology developed by Northwestern University without permission in the Spikevax vaccine to transport fragile mRNA into the human body.

A Moderna spokesperson said the company was aware of the lawsuit and would defend itself against the charges. An attorney and spokesperson for Northwestern University did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The lawsuit is part of a series of US court lawsuits by Pfizer (PFE.US), BioNTech (BNTX.US), and Moderna over patent royalties for technology used in COVID-19 vaccines, including the lawsuit filed by Moderna against Pfizer in 2022. On Tuesday, British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.US) sued Moderna in the same Delaware court, alleging that it misused the company's LNP technology in the coronavirus and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccines.

Northwestern University said its researchers pioneered the use of LNP to deliver mRNA to human cells in 2009 and 2010. The university's lawsuit alleges that the LNP in Moderna's Spikevax works in the same way as its patented technology.

The university's complaint stated that “without drawing on the technological breakthroughs of previous researchers, including Northwestern University,” Moderna could not have made “rapid progress” in developing a vaccine.

Northwestern University is asking the court to pay an unspecified amount of financial loss, including royalties, for Moderna's infringement. According to reports, Moderna achieved revenue of 6.7 billion US dollars from Spikevax last year.