GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) filed two lawsuits against Moderna claiming that Moderna infringed on GSK's patent rights in its mRNA COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, vaccines.
In the lawsuits filed on October 15 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, GSK said that the technology used for transporting mRNA into the body in Moderna's Spikevax COVID-19 and mResvia RSV vaccines violates GSK's patents rights, claiming that its "patented inventions provide the foundation for Moderna's mRNA vaccine portfolio."
In court documents, GSK lists seven lipid mRNA vaccine formulation technology patents that it claims Moderna infringed on. The company explained that the mRNA technology for which it holds the patents was developed by a team headed by Christian Mandl beginning in 2008.
GSK wrote in the suit that "Moderna obtained technical know-how relating to GSK Biologicals' mRNA vaccine platform technology by hiring several former Novartis and GSK employees with first-hand knowledge of the Mandl team's innovations." The firm also claimed in the filing that Moderna cited Mandl team patent filings in its patent applications beginning in 2013.
While GSK did not specify an amount it is seeking in damages, the company said that it wished to "recover a reasonable royalty," and "all damages adequate to compensate it for Moderna's infringement," attorney fees, a compulsory ongoing licensing fee, and "such other and further relief at law or equity as this Court deems just and proper," according to court documents.
