CureVac Provides Update on Trial Dates for Patent Litigation Across Multiple Geographies Against Pfizer/BioNTech

CureVac Provides Update on Trial Dates for Patent Litigation Across Multiple Geographies Against Pfizer/BioNTech
 

• New trial date for U.S. patent litigation set for March 3, 2025, following settlement with Acuitas Therapeutics
• First instance decision on validity of EP 3 708 668 B1 (split poly-A tail technology) scheduled for March 25, 2025, by European Patent Office in the context of the German patent litigation
• UK trial on validity of intellectual property rights EP 3 708 668 B1 and EP 4 023 755 B1 (split poly-A tail technology) began July 10; judgement expected later in 2024
   

TÜBINGEN, Germany/BOSTON, USA – July 11, 2024 – CureVac N.V. (Nasdaq: CVAC) (“CureVac”), a global biopharmaceutical company developing a new class of transformative medicines based on messenger ribonucleic acid (“mRNA”), today announced the latest trial dates for its ongoing patent litigation against Pfizer/BioNTech in multiple geographies including the U.S., UK and Germany.

The U.S. trial against Pfizer/BioNTech will take place on March 3, 2025, before the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Virginia. A previously issued court recommendation to stay the proceedings for all 10 U.S. patents was withdrawn. The recommendation had followed a motion by Acuitas Therapeutics to intervene, sever and stay proceedings based on co-owner and co-inventorship claims. It was resolved after both companies reached a settlement in April 2024, which provided Acuitas licenses to several patents, including three out of four disputed U.S. patents. These three patents have been withdrawn from the U.S. patent litigation against Pfizer/BioNTech. In return, Acuitas acknowledges that CureVac is the sole owner of the disputed patents.

Litigation in Europe will continue March 25, 2025, with a hearing on the validity of EP 3 708 668 B1 (split poly-A tail technology), before the Opposition Division of the European Patent Office. The infringement action in relation to this patent was previously suspended pending the validity determination by the European Patent Office. In the German patent litigation against Pfizer/BioNTech, the settlement with Acuitas Therapeutics led to the withdrawal of two utility models covering equivalent claims to the three patents withdrawn in the United States. As previously announced, a hearing before the infringement court of Düsseldorf covering the European patent EP 4 023 755 B1 (split poly-A tail technology) and the utility model DE 20 2021 004 130 U1 (COVID-19 vaccine design), is scheduled for September 10, 2024.

Furthermore, a trial in the UK has started on July 10, 2024. It is based on a declaration of non-infringement and request for revocation by Pfizer/BioNTech in the UK for the two CureVac patents EP 3 708 668 B1 and EP 4 023 755 B1 (split poly-A-tail technology). CureVac counterclaimed for infringement. A judgement is expected later in 2024. The trial for the further involved patent EP 1 857 122 B1 (G/C enrichment technology) will be set for a later time point.


About CureVac
CureVac (Nasdaq: CVAC) is a pioneering multinational biotech company founded in 2000 to advance the field of messenger RNA (mRNA) technology for application in human medicine. In more than two decades of developing, optimizing, and manufacturing this versatile biological molecule for medical purposes, CureVac has introduced and refined key underlying technologies that were essential to the production of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19, and is currently laying the groundwork for application of mRNA in new therapeutic areas of major unmet need. CureVac is leveraging mRNA technology, combined with advanced omics and computational tools, to design and develop off-the-shelf and personalized cancer vaccine product candidates. It also develops programs in prophylactic vaccines and in treatments that enable the human body to produce its own therapeutic proteins. Headquartered in Tübingen, Germany, CureVac also operates sites in the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, and the U.S. Further information can be found at www.curevac.com.


CureVac Media Contact
Patrick Perez, Junior Manager Public Relations
CureVac, Tübingen, Germany
T: +49 7071 9883-1831
M: +49 151 14 115247
patrick.perez@curevac.com


CureVac Investor Relations Contact
Dr. Sarah Fakih, Vice President Corporate Communications and Investor Relations
CureVac, Tübingen, Germany
T: +49 7071 9883-1298
M: +49 160 90 496949
sarah.fakih@curevac.com


Forward-Looking Statements CureVac
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