Moderna: "We Will Not Enforce COVID-19 Vaccine Patents in Low-Income Countries"

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] Moderna, a US-based COVID-19 vaccine developer, announced that it will enforce its COVID-19 vaccine patents only in wealthy countries.

According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on the 7th (local time), Moderna stated that it will not enforce COVID-19 vaccine-related patents in 92 low- and middle-income countries participating in the COVAX project, a joint COVID-19 vaccine procurement and support initiative for developing countries. It also added that it will not enforce patent rights against Afrigen Biologics & Vaccines in South Africa, which is producing a generic version of the Moderna vaccine in cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO).

However, Moderna said on the same day that it expects high-income countries wishing to use its patented technology to respect its patent rights and is willing to license the patents to these countries under "commercially reasonable terms." Moderna has previously registered several patents, including messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, the foundational technology of its COVID-19 vaccine named "Spikevax," in the US and other countries.

Stefan Bancel, CEO of Moderna, said in an interview that day, "We do not want to waste time worrying about low-income countries producing vaccines using our technology," but pointed out, "The situation is different in high-income countries because there are no restrictions on vaccine supply."

Earlier, Moderna promised not to enforce COVID-19 vaccine patents during the ongoing pandemic in 2020 and has not raised any patent infringement issues so far.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.