Acuitas, CureVac settle lawsuit over COVID-19 vaccine patent rights

CureVac NV

25/04/2024 23:24

By Blake Brittain
       April 25 (Reuters) - Biotech company Acuitas
Therapeutics and Germany-based CureVac  5CV.DE  have settled
Acuitas' lawsuit demanding credit for inventions related to
COVID-19 vaccines, according to a filing on Thursday in Virginia
federal court.
    Acuitas sued CureVac last year in U.S. District Court for
the Eastern District of Virginia, claiming its scientists should
have been named as co-inventors of CureVac patents covering
technology used in messenger RNA (mRNA)-based shots. CureVac
told the court on Thursday that they had settled their dispute
and will ask to dismiss the case.
    Representatives for Acuitas and CureVac did not immediately
respond to requests for comment and for more information about
the settlement.
    Canada-based Acuitas said in the lawsuit, filed last
November, that CureVac omitted Acuitas scientists from its
patent applications after they collaborated to develop lipid
nanoparticle mRNA-delivery technology during the COVID-19
pandemic.
    CureVac denied the allegations in a February court filing.
    Acuitas asked the court to force CureVac to list its
scientists as co-inventors on the patents, which would allow
Acuitas to license them without CureVac's permission.
    Acuitas separately licensed the lipid nanoparticle
technology used in Pfizer and BioNTech's COVID-19 shots. CureVac
has accused Pfizer and BioNTech of infringing its patents,
including the patents at issue in the Acuitas case, in an
ongoing lawsuit in Virginia.
    
    The case is Acuitas Therapeutics Inc v. CureVac SE, U.S.
District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, No.
2:23-cv-00610.
    For Acuitas: Nicholas Groombridge, Eric Stone and Josephine
Young of Groombridge, Wu, Baughman & Stone; Robert McFarland of
McGuireWoods
    For CureVac: Mark Izraelewicz and Kevin Flowers of Marshall
Gerstein & Borun
    
    Read more:
    Acuitas sues CureVac for credit on COVID-19 vaccine patents
    CureVac files patent lawsuit in Germany against BioNTech
over mRNA technology
    BioNTech, Pfizer sue CureVac in U.S. over COVID-19 vaccine
patent claims

 (Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington)
 ((blake.brittain@tr.com;))