Second judge says US not liable in Moderna COVID-19 vaccine patent case (updated)

Arbutus Biopharma

27/04/2023 01:18

(Adds comment from Moderna)
    By Blake Brittain
       April 26 (Reuters) - Moderna Inc  MRNA.O  failed to
persuade a Delaware federal judge on Wednesday to shift
liability from the company to the U.S. government for alleged
patent infringement by Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine. 
    Chief Judge Colm Connolly's ruling for Alnylam
Pharmaceuticals Inc  ALNY.O  came just over a month after a
different judge in Delaware rejected Moderna's similar motion in
another vaccine patent lawsuit.
    Connolly did not include the reasoning for his decision in
his order, which he announced from the bench following arguments
in the case. 
    A Moderna spokesperson said in a statement that the company
"respectfully disagrees" with the decision and is confident that
discovery will support its position. Representatives for Alnylam
did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
    Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Alnylam sued both Moderna and
Pfizer Inc in Delaware last year, seeking royalties for the
lipid nanoparticle (LNP) technology their vaccines use to
deliver genetic material known as mRNA.
    The cases are part of a wave of patent lawsuits that have
been filed over technology used in the COVID-19 shots, including
one filed by Moderna against Pfizer last year.
    Moderna said in the Alnylam case that the court should
dismiss claims that were based on vaccines it sold to the U.S.
government and that Alnylam should instead seek damages from the
government itself. It cited a law that was previously used to
keep patent disputes from interfering with the supply of war
materials during World War One.
    Moderna made the same argument in a motion to dismiss part
of another patent lawsuit brought by Arbutus Biopharma Corp
 ABUS.O  and Genevant Sciences GmbH. 
    U.S. District Judge Mitchell Goldberg rejected Moderna's
motion in that case last year and said it had not yet proven the
government was more than an "incidental beneficiary" of the
shots. 
    Goldberg denied the motion for a second time last month
after the federal government backed Moderna's position. 

 (Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington; Editing by Cynthia
Osterman)