Moderna, Genevant, Arbutus settle global mRNA patent infringement dispute

Context:

• Nucleic acid delivery company Genevant Sciences and clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company Arbutus Biopharma Corporation first sued Moderna for allegedly infringing six U.S. patents in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware in February 2022. They alleged that Moderna used their “revolutionary” lipid nanoparticle (LNP) delivery platform “without payment or a license” – the system, they claimed, was developed “with great effort and at great expense, and without which Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine would not have been successful.”
• Last March, they expanded their campaign by filing five more lawsuits over similar patents in 30 different countries, including in the following courts:  the Federal Court of Canada, the Tokyo District Court, Switzerland’s Federal Patent Court, and the Unified Patent Court’s (UPC’s) The Hague Local Division (LD: March 4, 2025 ip fray article). The UPC last May declined to throw out the infringement claims, extending the long-arm jurisdiction established in BSH V. Electrolux even further (May 5, 2025 ip fray UPC roundup). A jury trial was scheduled to begin in the U.S. case on March 9.

What’s new: Moderna has signed an agreement with Arbutus and Genevant, resolving all their litigation related to Spikevax and mRESVIA worldwide (March 3, 2026 Moderna press release).

Direct impact: Under the terms of the agreement, Moderna will make a lump sum payment of $950 million in Q3 2026. The company will also appeal to the Federal Circuit to argue its government-contractor immunity defense limits its liability under federal statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1498. If Moderna emerges successfully, it will not owe any further payments. However, if not, it would have to pay an additional $1.3 billion within 90 days of that decision. Should Moderna prevail on appeal, Arbutus and Genevant will refund all the payments.

Wider ramifications: This settlement comes at a good time for Moderna, which is embroiled in several disputes over its covid vaccine-related patents, including against Pfizer and BioNTech in the UK and the United States District Court for the District of Delaware (February 20, 2026 ip fray article). In January, Bayer became the latest to join the covid patent wars, suing Moderna alongside Pfizer/BioNTech, and J&J (January 8, 2026 ip fray article).