German court suspends mRNA patent trial against BioNTech (updated)

CureVac NV

28/09/2023 16:27

(Recasts lead, adds shares in paragraph 3, background from
paragraph 4)
       DUESSELDORF, Sept 28 (Reuters) - A German court on
Thursday put on hold a patent trial brought by German biotech
firm CureVac  5CV.DE  against domestic rival BioNTech  22UAy.DE 
over the use of mRNA technology in COVID-19 vaccines, weighing
on CureVac's shares.
    The Duesseldorf regional court said it suspended its
proceedings until the German and the European patent offices
decide on a legal challenge filed by BioNTech over the validity
of CureVac's intellectual property rights.
    CureVac's Germany-traded shares slumped 18% to their lowest
in almost nine months, while BioNTech shares slipped 0.6%.
    CureVac's efforts to develop an mRNA based COVID-19 vaccine
did not succeed during the pandemic, while BioNTech generated
about 17 billion euros ($17.96 billion) and 19 billion euros in
annual sales in 2022 and 2021, respectively, thanks to its
successful coronavirus vaccine business with partner Pfizer.
    Analysts have previously said that much is at stake in the
legal dispute for CureVac because being awarded even a small
fraction of the revenues could transform its financial position.
    A separate patent infringement case brought by CureVac was
previously suspended by the Duesseldorf court because a higher
court first needs to review that patent's validity. A decision
on that is expected in December.
        
    ($1 = 0.9467 euros)

 (Reporting by Tom Kaeckenhoff, Writing by Rachel More and
Ludwig Burger, Editing by Friederike Heine and Ros Russell)
 ((ludwig.burger@thomsonreuters.com; +49 30 220133634;))