Bayer sues COVID vaccine makers over mRNA technology

By Blake Brittain

Jan 6 (Reuters) - Bayer's Monsanto sued COVID-19 vaccine makers Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna in Delaware federal court ​on Tuesday for allegedly misusing its messenger RNA technology ‌in manufacturing their vaccines, a Bayer spokesperson confirmed.

The patent infringement lawsuits said the companies ‌copied technology developed by Monsanto in the 1980s for strengthening mRNA in crops in order to stabilize the genetic material used in their vaccines.

Bayer separately filed a similar lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson in New ⁠Jersey federal court on ‌Tuesday, arguing that a DNA-based process J&J used in manufacturing its shots infringed the patent.

Bayer's complaints add to ‍a web of patent lawsuits over the blockbuster COVID shots, which include an ongoing lawsuit filed by Moderna against Pfizer in 2022.

Bayer was not involved ​in developing COVID vaccines and does not make or sell ‌any version of them.

It asked the courts for an unspecified amount of monetary damages and said it was not seeking to block the companies from manufacturing their vaccines.

Pfizer and BioNTech earned more than $3.3 billion in revenue from global sales of their vaccine Comirnaty ⁠in 2024, while Moderna earned $3.2 billion ​from its Spikevax, according to company reports, ​a fraction of their sales at the height of the pandemic.

Johnson & Johnson stopped selling its COVID vaccine in ‍the United States ⁠in 2023.

Bayer's lawsuits said Monsanto scientists pioneered technology in the 1980s for reducing mRNA instability to make more pest-resistant crops.

⁠Bayer alleged that Pfizer and Moderna utilized technology for improving the stability of ‌mRNA that infringes one of its patents.

(Reporting by Blake ‌Brittain in WashingtonEditing by Bill Berkrot)