Biontech and Curevac engage in a legal dispute over patents
BioNTech, the German biotech company behind the Pfizer-BioNTech Comirnaty vaccine, has reached a settlement agreement with CureVac and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to resolve the multi-year patent litigation in the United States over mRNA technology used in COVID-19 vaccines.
The settlement involves significant upfront payments, ongoing royalties, and integration of CureVac's patent portfolio into BioNTech's operations. BioNTech will pay a total upfront payment of approximately $740 million to CureVac and GSK. CureVac will receive $370 million, with $320 million going to GSK.
Starting from January 1, 2025, BioNTech will pay 1% royalties on US sales of licensed mRNA vaccine products, including COVID-19 and influenza vaccines, to GSK. CureVac, on the other hand, will receive single-digit royalties on US COVID-19 vaccine sales going forward.
The agreement also sets a framework for resolving ongoing international patent disputes outside the US once BioNTech’s acquisition of CureVac, announced for $1.25 billion in June 2025, closes later in 2025.
GSK previously had a strategic collaboration and licensing agreement with CureVac for mRNA vaccine development, and these settlement payments relate to that relationship as well. GSK may earn up to $500 million overall from the settlement and related agreements, including payments tied to other patent disputes outside the US.
The settlement clears the way for BioNTech to expand its mRNA vaccine and oncology pipeline without further US patent litigation from CureVac and GSK related to COVID-19 mRNA technologies.
Despite BioNTech bringing its vaccine to market and making billions, CureVac failed to bring its vaccine to market in time. The competitors in vaccine development during the pandemic are not specified in the provided text.
The agreement does not admit guilt from either party, and the takeover of CureVac by BioNTech has not been completed yet. The settlement was announced ahead of the takeover. After the completion of the takeover, the license will be expanded to a global license.
The agreement includes a license, but the exact details of the license, such as whether it includes influenza products other than those based on mRNA, are not specified. The competitors in vaccine development during the pandemic are not specified in the provided text.
The agreement does not specify the exact date of the payment or the expansion of the license to a global license after the takeover. It's also worth noting that CureVac later demanded a share of the revenues and claimed that a number of its intellectual property rights had been infringed, but the details of this claim are not included in the settlement agreement.
Business, technology, finance, and patent disputes have been settled between BioNTech, CureVac, and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), providing a framework for resolving international disputes related to mRNA technology used in COVID-19 vaccines. BioNTech will pay one percent royalties on US sales of licensed mRNA vaccine products, including COVID-19 and influenza vaccines, from January 1, 2025, to GSK, while CureVac will receive single-digit royalties on US COVID-19 vaccine sales going forward. This settlement clears the way for BioNTech to expand its mRNA vaccine and oncology pipeline without further patent litigation from CureVac and GSK, but the exact details of the license, such as whether it includes influenza products other than those based on mRNA, have not been specified.
