Moderna fends off Arbutus appeal in COVID-19 vaccine patent fight

Arbutus Biopharma

11/04/2023 17:58

By Blake Brittain
       April 11 (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court handed Moderna
Inc  MRNA.O  a win on Tuesday, affirming a decision to cancel an
Arbutus Biopharma Corp  ABUS.O  patent related to the companies'
legal fight over Moderna's blockbuster COVID-19 vaccines.
    The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld a
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office tribunal's ruling that the
patent for Arbutus' lipid nanoparticle (LNP) technology was
invalid based on an earlier Arbutus patent that disclosed the
same invention.
    Moderna challenged the patent at the PTO's Patent Trial and
Appeal Board in 2018, and the board invalidated it in 2019.
    A spokesperson for Genevant declined to comment on the
Tuesday decision. Representatives for Moderna did not
immediately respond to a request for comment.
    The Federal Circuit's decision does not affect an ongoing
lawsuit filed by Arbutus and Genevant Sciences — a joint venture
between Arbutus and Roivant Sciences Ltd  ROIV.O  — against
Moderna last year in Delaware for allegedly infringing other
related LNP patents.
    Warminster Township, Pennsylvania-based Arbutus said in the
lawsuit that Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Moderna began
challenging its patents at the PTO after failing to acquire a
license to its LNP technology. 
    The technology is used to deliver RNA to target cells
without being attacked by the body's immune system. 
    Arbutus separately sued Pfizer and BioNTech for patent
infringement last week over their COVID-19 shots, in a lawsuit
that also does not include the canceled patent.
    The Federal Circuit case is Arbutus Biopharma Corp v.
ModernaTX Inc, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit,
No. 20-1183.

 (Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington)