Arbutus Biopharma Corporation (ABUS)

[DewDiligence]

MRNA seeks_dismissal of ABUS patent-infringement suit on_legal_technicality:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/moderna-seeks-to-dismiss-covid-19-vaccine-patent-lawsuit-11651871569

Moderna said in the new court filing that even if it had infringed the patents, federal patent law protects government contractors from certain patent-infringement lawsuits. A section of the law requires that a patent holder must file a claim against the U.S. in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims if the patent holder believes that a product manufactured for the government by a contractor infringes the patent.

The provision usually applies to defense contractors and not pharmaceutical companies, since the U.S. government isn’t typically the sole, direct purchaser of drugs and vaccines.

But during the Covid-19 pandemic, the federal government has been the only U.S. purchaser of doses of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine for use in the U.S., and has distributed them at no cost to vaccine recipients since late 2020.

…Moderna wants a judge to dismiss the lawsuit’s claims seeking royalties on the sale of its Covid-19 vaccine doses to the U.S. government. Moderna said Arbutus and Genevant should instead file a patent-infringement lawsuit against the federal government in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

MRNA continues to insist that it is not infringing ABUS’ LNP patent, while acting as though it knows that it does infringe. This behavior has been going on for some time—e.g. #msg-157321375 and #msg-157115193.

Genevant (the co-plaintiff in the patent litigation) is a JV of ABUS and ROIV.

My viewpoint in #msg-166969942 still pertains.