Pfizer and BioNTech have called GSK’s patent lawsuit “groundless,” accusing the British drugmaker of “improperly contorting” its claims to say their blockbuster Covid vaccine is covered by GSK patents.
GSK in April filed suit against Pfizer and BioNTech, alleging the companies benefited from mRNA research conducted years before the pandemic. GSK said it secured the patent rights to those discoveries in 2015, when it acquired a portion of Novartis’ vaccines business.
Pfizer and BioNTech have denied infringement by Comirnaty and are now seeking to invalidate GSK’s asserted patents in counterclaims, which were filed Wednesday.
“It was not until the details of Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine became publicly available that GSK pursued the patent claims it now asserts against them,” Pfizer and BioNTech argued, adding that GSK “unreasonably delayed” pursuing the asserted patent claims for more than a decade.
“GSK is seeking damages for a product that it did not invent,” they said.
GSK told Endpoints News on Friday that it’s “committed to taking appropriate action where necessary to protect the company’s intellectual property,” and it offered to “license these patents on commercially reasonable terms.”
The latest claims add to a series of patent disputes involving Pfizer and BioNTech and their Covid vaccine, including a drawn-out legal battle with Moderna.
GSK has argued that its patented technology was “revolutionary for vaccine development” and formed the basis of Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid success, noting that the defendants “reaped billions of dollars in revenue” from GSK’s patents and continue to do so. Comirnaty generated $37 billion in sales in 2022, though the vaccine’s revenue came in at $11.2 billion in 2023.
“BioNTech’s work is original, and we will vigorously defend it against all allegations of patent infringement,” a BioNTech spokesperson told Endpoints on Friday.