In October 2020, Moderna pledged not to enforce its COVID-19 as part of its committment to equitable global access as the pandemic continued. When the collective fightr against the pandemic entered a new phase and vaccine supply is no longer a problem in many parts of the world, the company updated its pledge.
Moderna made clear that it would never enforce its COVID-19 patents for vaccines used in the 92 low- and middle-income counties in the GAVI Covax Advance Market Commitment (AMC 92). It expected companies like Pfizer and BioNTech to respect its intellectual property rights and expected them to consider and request f a commercially reasonable license for
Moderna Chief Legal Officer Shannon Thyme Klinger stressed, “We believe that Pfizer and BioNTech unlawfully copied Moderna’s inventions, and they have continued to use them without permission. Outside of AMC 92 countries, where vaccine supply is no longer a barrier to access, Moderna expects Pfizer and BioNTech to compensate Moderna for Comirnaty’s ongoing use of Moderna’s patented technologies.”
