Berlin, December 28, 2024 – The Europe Today: German biotech firm BioNTech has reached two settlement agreements totaling $1.26 billion to resolve disputes over royalty payments related to its COVID-19 vaccine, the company disclosed in court filings on Friday.
BioNTech, which partnered with U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer to develop the COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty, will pay $791.5 million (€759.2 million) to the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). The settlement addresses royalties owed for the use of patents licensed from the NIH.
Additionally, BioNTech will pay $467 million to the University of Pennsylvania, settling a lawsuit in which the university accused the company of underpaying royalties. The lawsuit alleged that BioNTech utilized a sublicense to Penn’s technology obtained in 2017 through another entity to develop the vaccine with Pfizer.
The Comirnaty vaccine was the first COVID-19 jab to receive emergency use authorization from a stringent regulatory authority and later gained full approval for regular use.
These settlements underscore the critical role of collaboration between academic, governmental, and private sectors in addressing global health crises while resolving the financial complexities that arise in the development of groundbreaking technologies.
