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Replies to post #4787 on Moderna Inc (MRNA)
08/31/20 10:04 AM
U.S. government Darpa investigates Moderna vaccine patents
August 30, 2020
The US Department of Defense research arm is investigating patents filed and awarded to Moderna, a US biotech company developing a Covid-19 vaccine, after researchers accused the company of not disclosing government funding as it is required by federal law.
In a report released this week, researchers from Knowledge Ecology International (KEI), a patient advocacy group, said Moderna did not disclose in its vaccine patents that it had received around $ 25 million in grants. of the DoD Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or Darpa. , to develop its vaccine technology.
“It appears that all of the past and present Darpa awards at Moderna include accountability for the role of government funding for related inventions,” Darpa spokesperson Jared Adams said in an email response to Financial Times.
“In addition, Darpa actively researches agency awards for Moderna to identify which patents and pending patents, if any, can be associated with Darpa support,” he said.
Mr Adams declined to comment further, saying the investigation is continuing. US federal law required government funding to be disclosed in these circumstances, he noted.
Disclosure of federal funding in patents helps determine how public funds are used and whether royalties are paid to the government, which is increasingly interested in expensive drugs that have been developed at the expense of taxpayers.
KEI has reviewed the 126 patents granted to Moderna as well as 154 patent applications. “Despite evidence that multiple inventions were conceived during Darpa Award-supported research, not a single one of the patents or applications awarded to Moderna discloses US federal government funding,” KEI researcher Luis Gil wrote. Abinader.
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Jamie Love, the director of KEI, said the lack of disclosure was “surprising”, especially since some of the federal grants covered the technology Moderna hoped to exploit in its Covid-19 vaccine.
“The apparent lack of government control was also surprising,” he added. KEI had written to Darpa on Thursday requesting an investigation.
Moderna said she believes she has complied with applicable patent reporting requirements regarding patent filings, including those related to the Darpa program.
Moderna is developing a vaccine with nearly $ 1 billion in support from the US government, primarily the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority at the Department of Health and Human Services.
This vaccine, which uses messenger RNA, or mRNA, technology is said to be among the most expensive against Covid-19.
The FT reported in July that the company had presented its vaccine to potential buyers at a range of around $ 50 to $ 60 per two-dose course. The company said it would cost some of its jabs up to $ 37 a dose and revealed a deal with the United States to supply 100 million doses worth $ 1.5 billion. It is in talks with the EU and Japan on supply agreements.
Some competitors’ vaccine prices are significantly lower, recent supply agreements indicate. The vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford costs around $ 3 per dose, for example.
Moderna has revealed that it has received government funding in investor deposits with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
