The ruling represents a first decision on validity in ongoing patent litigation between CureVac and BioNTech SE in Germany, which involves a total of eight CureVac intellectual property rights. Proceedings continue regarding the seven remaining rights, for which validity, infringement and potential damages will be decided individually. Following today’s decision, a ruling on infringement of the German part of EP 1 857 122 B1, scheduled for December 28, 2023, before the Regional Court Düsseldorf, will likely be postponed.

“We consider the patent court’s decision unfortunate also in view of the positive preliminary opinion on EP 1 857 122 B1 the court provided earlier this year. The decision is only one of many that will be made regarding the use of CureVac’s intellectual property in the development of Comirnaty®. We remain highly confident that our pioneering role in mRNA technology and continuing innovation in the field made essential contributions to safe and efficacious COVID-19 vaccines,” said Dr. Alexander Zehnder, Chief Executive Officer of CureVac. “While we do not seek to diminish the value of mRNA vaccines in changing the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, we strongly believe that CureVac’s role in laying the scientific groundwork for those vaccines needs to be recognized. We will continue to defend our claim for recognition and fair compensation and will take appropriate action by appealing this decision.”

CureVac is represented in Germany by Oliver Jan Jüngst from Bird & Bird LLP and Andreas Graf von Stosch from Graf von Stosch Patentanwaltsgesellschaft and represented in the U.S. by Mark H. Izraelewicz from Marshall, Gerstein & Borun LLP.