Moderna sues Pfizer, BioNTech alleging patent infringement over Covid vaccine

The lawsuit has paved the way for a high-stakes showdown between the leading manufacturers of Covid-19 vaccines.

"Moderna believes that Pfizer and BioNTech's Covid-19 vaccine Comirnaty infringes patents Moderna filed between 2010 and 2016 covering Moderna's foundational mRNA technology," the US-based biotech firm said in a statement.

"This groundbreaking technology was critical to the development of Moderna's own mRNA Covid-19 vaccine, Spikevax. Pfizer and BioNTech copied this technology, without Moderna's permission, to make Comirnaty," Moderna added.

However, US-based Pfizer said it has not received the lawsuit and declined to speak further, while Germany's BioNTech did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

The mRNA technology used in the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech shots differs from that in traditional vaccines, which rely on injecting weakened or dead forms of a virus to allow the immune system to recognize it and build antibodies.

Instead, mRNA vaccines deliver instructions to cells to build a harmless piece of the spike protein found on the surface of the virus that causes Covid-19, said reports.

After creating this spike protein, cells can recognize and fight the real virus, which is hailed as a major advancement in the development of vaccines.