Last August, Moderna filed a lawsuit against Pfizer and its COVID-19 vaccine partner, BioNTech. Moderna claims that the partners copied its mRNA technology and infringed its vaccine patents. Pfizer wasn’t going to sit back and take that. In September, the pharma giant dismissed the claims and accused Moderna of trying to rewrite the pandemic story to place itself in the “single, starring role,” the company’s attorneys wrote in a scathing countersuit.   

Kevin Noonan, Ph.D., is an intellectual property lawyer. He spoke with Fierce Pharma staff writer Zoey Becker to discuss what is likely to be the most significant patent fight from the pandemic era.   

To learn more about topics in this episode:

• Clash of the titans: Moderna sues Pfizer, BioNTech for mRNA patent infringement
• Pfizer, BioNTech strike back at Moderna with mRNA vaccine patent lawsuit
• Moderna won't enforce COVID-19 vaccine patents during pandemic
• Pfizer CEO's texts with European Commission chief trigger new NYT lawsuit
• NuVasive, Globus Medical ink $3.1B orthopedic device merger, sending investors scrambling
• Big Pharma divided? Pfizer, AZ, Lilly and more support Sanofi in high-profile Amgen patent fight
• GSK nixes next-gen COVID-19 antibody collaboration, leaving Vir to fly solo, seek new partners
• Call for nominations: The most influential people in biopharma in 2023

The Top Line is produced by senior multimedia producer Teresa Carey and managing editor Querida Anderson with editor-in-chief Ayla Ellison and senior editors Annalee Armstrong, Ben Adams, Conor Hale and Eric Sagonowsky. The sound engineer is Caleb Hodgson. The stories are by all our “Fierce” journalists. Like and subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts.

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