Pfizer Inc and its German partner BioNTech SE fired back on Monday at a patent lawsuit filed by Moderna Inc in Boston federal court over their rival COVID-19 vaccines.
Pfizer-BioNTech is seeking a dismissal of the lawsuit and a court order that they did not infringe Moderna’s patents.
Moderna first sued Pfizer in August, accusing the company of violating its rights in three patents related to innovations that Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Moderna said it pioneered before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Moderna has also filed a related lawsuit against Pfizer and BioNTech in Germany. All three companies are also embroiled in U.S. patent disputes with other companies over the vaccines.
The companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the Monday filing.
Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine made over $26.4 billion for the New York-based company in the first nine months of 2022, while Moderna sold over $13.5 billion worth of its COVID vaccine over the same period, according to company filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.