
Pfizer and its German partner, BioNTech SE, on Monday fired back at Moderna in a patent lawsuit over their rival COVID-19 vaccines, seeking dismissal of the lawsuit in Boston federal court and an order that Moderna's patents are invalid and not infringed, Reuters reported.
Moderna sued Pfizer in August, accusing the company of violating its rights in three patents related to innovations that Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Moderna said it pioneered before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Moderna has also filed a related lawsuit against Pfizer and BioNTech in Germany. All three companies are also embroiled in US patent disputes with other companies over the vaccines, noted Reuters.
A Pfizer spokesperson said the company and BioNTech are confident in their intellectual property and will "vigorously defend" against Moderna's claims.
Moderna did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Monday filing.
Pfizer and BioNTech said in the filing that they developed their vaccine independently, calling Moderna's lawsuit "revisionist history" and arguing its patents "far exceed its actual contributions to the field."
The companies argued that Moderna ignored the contributions of their scientists to foundational mRNA technology, as well as those of researchers at the US government's National Institutes of Health.