A year after a high-profile flop with its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, CureVac is still trying to get a piece of the action. On Monday, the company revealed that it is suing fellow German mRNA pioneer BioNTech for infringement of its intellectual property by developing the Pfizer-partnered COVID shot Comirnaty.
CureVac said it has no intention of disrupting the production, sale or distribution of BioNTech’s megablockbuster vaccine with an injunction. Instead, the Tubingen-based company wants recognition and compensation for the technology it developed—beginning with work more than two decades ago—which it says was essential in BioNTech’s creation of its successful shot.
The lawsuit, filed in German regional court in Dusseldorf, where BioNTech is based, identifies four patents which relate to the engineering of mRNA molecules, including “sequence modifications to increase stability and enhance protein expression, as well as mRNA vaccine formulations specific to SARS CoV-2 vaccines,” CureVac said in a release.