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- Penn State sues BioNTech (NASDAQ: BNTX) accuses a German biotech company of withholding royalties from universities for technology used to make its COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty.
- The vaccine is marketed by BioNTech and Pfizer (PFE), although the latter No defendants were named.
- BioNTech received a sublicense to use messenger RNA (mRNA)-related technology created by two Nobel Prize-winning Penn State professors.
- “BioNTech pays royalties only for products sold in countries where Penn holds patents, but under the parties’ royalty agreement, if the patented products are manufactured in countries where Penn holds patents, BioNTech will Obligated to pay royalties.
- In addition, the school said BioNTech improperly withheld royalties from third parties. “But based on the incomplete royalty reporting provided to date, BioNTech has never met the threshold required for a reduction based on royalties paid to third parties.”
- Payne asked for a jury trial and damages.
