A Bayer spokesperson confirmed on Tuesday that lawsuits had been filed in a federal court in Delaware. According to the allegations, the manufacturers are accused of copying a technology that Bayer subsidiary Monsanto had already patented in the 1980s. The dispute centers on a process for stabilizing the genetic material mRNA, which Monsanto initially developed for creating more resilient crops.
Bayer also filed a similar lawsuit against U.S. company Johnson & Johnson in a federal court in New Jersey. Bayer is seeking unspecified damages. However, the company stated it is not pursuing a sales ban on the vaccines. Bayer was not involved in the development of Covid vaccines and does not manufacture any.
The lawsuits are part of a series of patent disputes over the successful Covid vaccines. Moderna had already filed a lawsuit against Pfizer in 2022. In 2024, Pfizer and Biontech generated global sales of more than $3.3 billion with their Comirnaty vaccine. Moderna earned $3.2 billion with Spikevax. However, these figures represent only a fraction of the revenues seen at the height of the pandemic. Johnson & Johnson discontinued sales of its Covid vaccine in the U.S. in 2023.
(Reporting by Blake Brittain, written by Ralf Bode; Edited by Scot W. Stevenson; For inquiries, please contact our editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com)
