A November 9th article in the New York Times chronicles the ongoing dispute between Moderna and the National Institutes of Health over who deserves credit for the company's COVID vaccine, and ultimately, who should own rights to the patent. Because Moderna's patent application does not name any N.I.H. scientists as co-inventors, the agency would need Moderna's permission to license it to other companies or organizations. Although some experts have raised concerns about this, others say that even with a license, potential vaccine manufacturers would struggle to expand supply of the vaccine. 

A patent license is “just one piece of an otherwise very large jigsaw puzzle,” said Professor Jacob Sherkow, an expert on biotechnology patent law at the University of Illinois College of Law. “The patent license does not build factories, it doesn’t source raw materials, it doesn’t train workers.”

Read the full article at nytimes.com.