COVID-19 vaccine maker Moderna is in a patent infringement dispute with two biotechs, Genevant Sciences and Arbutus Biopharma Corp., that claim Moderna is profiting off their previously patented technology.

Moderna has already gotten more than $10 billion in taxpayer money to produce the vaccine, and now, according to a former chief judge of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, the Biden administration is attempting to quietly use patent statutes usually applied to military equipment to bail the company out of the patent lawsuit.

The idea of the government taking on financial responsibility for patent infringements was hatched as a scheme to strong arm drug companies to lower prices, Fox News reported.

However, “in a setback for Moderna, U.S. District Judge Mitchell Goldberg ruled for a second time on March 10 that the company hadn’t yet proven patent infringement should be shifted to taxpayers,” Fox News said.

SOURCE:

Fox News March 22, 2023