Your current location is:{Current column} >>Text
Moderna COVID
{Current column}87789People have watched
Introduction© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: An employee shows the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at Northwell Health's Long Isl ...

By Julie Steenhuysen
CHICAGO (Reuters) -U.S. National Institutes of Health scientists played "a major role" in developing Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Inc's COVID-19 vaccine and the agency intends to defend its claim as co-owner of patents on the shot, NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins told Reuters on Wednesday.
In a story first reported by the New York Times on Tuesday, Moderna excluded three NIH scientists as co-inventors of a central patent for the company's multibillion-dollar COVID-19 vaccine in its application filed in July.
"I think Moderna has made a serious mistake here in not providing the kind of co-inventorship credit to people who played a major role in the development of the vaccine that they're now making a fair amount of money off of," Collins said in an interview ahead of the Reuters Total Health conference, which will run virtually from Nov. 15-18. [https://reutersevents.com/events/healthcare/ https://reutersevents.com/events/healthcare/]]
Moderna expects 2021 sales of $15 billion to $18 billion from the COVID-19 vaccine - its first and only commercial product - and up to $22 billion next year.
In a statement emailed to Reuters, Moderna acknowledged that scientists at NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) played a "substantial role" in developing Moderna's messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine, but the company said it disagrees with the agency's patent claims.
Collins said the NIH has been trying to resolve the patent conflict with Moderna amicably for some time and has failed.
"But we are not done. Clearly this is something that legal authorities are going to have to figure out," he said.
NIH has asserted that three of its scientists - Dr. John Mascola, Dr. Barney Graham (NYSE:GHM) and Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett - helped design the genetic sequence used in Moderna's vaccine and should be named on the patent application. Graham has since retired and Corbett is now working at Harvard.
"It's not a good idea to file a patent when you leave out important inventors, and so this is going to get sorted as people look harder at this," Collins told Reuters.
"I did not expect that to be the outcome from what had been a very friendly, collaborative effort between scientists at NIH and Moderna over many years."
In its statement, Moderna said, "We do not agree that NIAID scientists co-invented claims to the mRNA-1273 sequence itself. Only Moderna’s scientists came up with the sequence for the mRNA used in our vaccine."
Moderna said the company has acknowledged NIH scientists in other patent applications, such as those related to dosing. But for the core patent, Moderna is only required to list Moderna scientists as inventors of the sequence under the strict rules of U.S. patent law, it said.
"We are grateful for our collaboration with NIH scientists, value their contributions, and remain focused on working together to help patients," the company added.
Statement: The content of this article does not represent the views of FTI website. The content is for reference only and does not constitute investment suggestions. Investment is risky, so you should be careful in your choice! If it involves content, copyright and other issues, please contact us and we will make adjustments at the first time!
Tags:
Related articles
Virgin Orbit's would
{Current column}By Joey Roulette and Kevin Krolicki(Reuters) - As the fortunes of Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit wer ...
Read moreMalaysia says it will protect its rights in South China Sea By Reuters
{Current column}KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia said on Saturday it was firmly committed to protecting its soverei ...
Read moreVirgin Orbit shares tumble after rocket group files for bankruptcy By
{Current column}By Scott Kanowsky -- Richard Branson’s troubled space-launch firm Virgin Orbit Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: ...
Read more
Popular Articles
- Tesla hikes US prices days after sixth price cut this year By Reuters
- The rebound of the dollar is unlikely to alter its long
- Twitter makes some of its source code public, promises more By Reuters
- Historical Bitcoin price fractal hints at rally toward $50K By Cointelegraph
- Dollar stabilizes ahead of Fed minutes as debt negotiations continue By
- U.S. opens safety probe into Tesla that struck student in North Carolina By Reuters
Latest articles
-
Republican hopefuls woo evangelicals in Iowa, vow to restrict abortion By Reuters
-
The yen weakens as the dollar rebounds, reflecting shifting currency market dynamics.
-
Saudi Arabia Hikes Oil Prices Again, Signaling Confidence in Strong Asian Market Demand
-
Virgin Orbit shares tumble after rocket group files for bankruptcy By
-
S&P 500 gives up gains despite Microsoft
-
What shocked me most was HorizonCapitalMarket asking for a $980 “liquidity validation fee”