Chemistry World reports that Covid-19 vaccine producer Moderna faces a patent infringement lawsuit in the US, relating to the lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) that protect the mRNA in its vaccine. 

The penalty for patent infringement is ‘a reasonable royalty’, according to US patent law. "A royalty, outside litigation, in the biotech space for a typical license looks something like a single digit percent on net sales," says Professor Jacob Sherkow, a biotech intellectual property expert.

Even a small percentage of the $18 billion (£14 billion) projected 2021 sales of the Moderna vaccine will be significant, notes Sherkow. "I imagine the two sides are pretty far apart as to what they think an appropriate license fee is," he says. "If I was Arbutus, I would be asking for the moon. And if you’re Moderna, you don’t want to give that up. We’re going to need a bunch of interim decisions from the court before the parties can get closer."

Read the full story at chemistryworld.com.