Moderna’s COVID vaccine is based on scientific breakthroughs made by Northwestern researchers Drs. Chad Mirkin, C. Shad Thaxton, and Kaylin McMahon at the college’s International Institute for Nanotechnology, the lawsuit claims. (Read the full complaint below.)
“It was Drs. Mirkin, Thaxton, and McMahon and the other Northwestern inventors who first identified the key characteristics of (lipid nanoparticles) that allowed for the ‘profound’ benefits that led to the success of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines,” the lawsuit said. “To date, Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines have been delivered by using Northwestern’s inventive LNP technology.”
In a statement to Crain’s, Moderna spokesperson Christopher Ridley said the company is “aware of the litigation and will defend (itself) against these claims.”
Northwestern declined to comment.
Not a Modern Healthcare subscriber? Sign up today.
British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline filed a similar lawsuit against Moderna this week, accusing it of violating GSK patient rights to develop COVID and respiratory syncytial virus vaccines.
Selling COVID vaccines has been enormously profitable for Moderna, which now has nearly half of the COVID vaccine market share, according to Northwestern’s lawsuit. Moderna collected nearly $10 billion in COVID vaccine-related revenues over 2021 and 2022, the complaint notes.
Northwestern is seeking an undisclosed amount of damages for the alleged infringements but is not seeking to block Moderna from continuing to sell the vaccines.
This story first appeared in Crain's Chicago Business.
