U.S. backs Moderna, says government should face COVID-19 vaccine lawsuit

Arbutus Biopharma

15/02/2023 16:57

By Blake Brittain
       Feb 15 (Reuters) - The U.S. government should face a
patent lawsuit over COVID-19 vaccines, not vaccine maker Moderna
Inc  MRNA.O , the Department of Justice told a Delaware federal
court on Tuesday.
    The Justice Department's court filing said the United States
should be liable for any infringement of Arbutus Biopharma Corp
 ABUS.O  and Genevant Sciences GmbH's patents that took place
under Moderna's contract to provide shots for the government's
nationwide vaccination effort.
    Moderna made the same argument last year in an unsuccessful
bid to win an early dismissal of the lawsuit.
    Genevant declined to comment on the filing. Representatives
for Moderna, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately
respond to requests for comment Wednesday.
    Warminster Township, Pennsylvania-based Arbutus and Genevant
— a joint venture between Arbutus and Roivant Sciences Ltd
 ROIV.O  — sued Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Moderna last year
for royalties on its multi-billion-dollar COVID vaccines. 
    Both Moderna and Pfizer Inc  PFE.N  have been the target of
multiple patent lawsuits over their COVID vaccines, including a
lawsuit brought by Moderna against Pfizer in August.
    Moderna asked the Delaware court to dismiss Arbutus and
Genevant's case in May, arguing it could only be brought against
the government in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. It cited a
law that was previously used to keep patent disputes from
interfering with the supply of war materials during World War
One.
    But U.S. District Judge Mitchell Goldberg said in November
that Moderna had not yet shown that the vaccines were made for
the government or with its authorization and consent under the
law, and that it may have instead been an "incidental
beneficiary" of the shots.
    The Department of Justice responded Tuesday that Moderna
should not be liable based on its contract to provide the
vaccines to the government as part of Operation Warp Speed.
    It said the government's liability is limited to Moderna's
alleged infringing activity that took place under its U.S.
contract.
    The case is Arbutus Biopharma Corp v. Moderna Inc, U.S.
District Court for the District of Delaware, No. 1:22-cv-00252.
 (Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington
Editing by David Bario and David Gregorio)
 ((blake.brittain@tr.com; +1 (202) 938-5713;))