April 25 (Reuters) – GlaxoSmithKline (GLAX.NS), opens new tab sued Pfizer (PFE.N), opens new tab and BioNTech (22UAy.DE), opens new tab in Delaware federal court on Thursday, accusing them of infringing GSK patents related to messenger RNA (mRNA) technology in the companies’ blockbuster COVID-19 vaccines.
GSK said in the lawsuit, opens new tab that Pfizer and BioNTech’s Comirnaty vaccines violate the company’s patent rights in mRNA-vaccine innovations developed “more than a decade before” the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A Pfizer spokesperson said in a statement that the company is “confident in our IP position around Comirnaty” and intends to “vigorously defend” against GSK’s claims. A BioNTech spokesperson declined to comment on the complaint.
A GSK spokesperson said the company believes its patents “provided the foundational technology used in Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 mRNA vaccines,” and that it is “willing to license these patents on commercially reasonable terms and to ensure continued patient access” to the shots.