Moderna Inc. will pay as much as $2.25 billion to end a protracted patent fight with Arbutus Biopharma Corp. and Genevant Sciences GmbH regarding technology deployed in its COVID-19 vaccines, according to an announcement released Tuesday by Arbutus.
The settlement includes an upfront payment of $950 million from Moderna to Arbutus and Genevant in the third quarter of 2026. An additional payment of up to $1.3 billion is contingent on the outcome of Moderna’s appeal regarding a federal statute that could limit its liability for patent infringement related to government contracts.
The agreement ends all worldwide litigation between the parties, including a case in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware. It also says Moderna, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, will not have to pay future royalties to the two companies for products in its infectious disease portfolio, including vaccines such as Spikevax and mRESVIA.
In the agreement, Genevant has given Moderna a global non-exclusive license to its lipid nanoparticle (LNP) delivery method for SM-102-containing mRNA vaccines for infectious diseases. Also, Genevant and Arbutus agree not to sue over certain patents related to Moderna’s products.
Moderna has consented to a court judgment finding infringement and affirming the validity of four Genevant and Arbutus patents. The agreement ends each patent-infringement claim against Moderna over its use of the LNP technology in COVID-19 vaccines.
The $1.3 billion contingent payment would mark the largest public patent resolution in pharmaceutical industry history, as well as the second largest of any industry, according to Roivant Sciences Ltd., the Swiss company that owns Genevant.
Moderna intends to appeal a decision last month in U.S. District Court in Delaware that rejected the company’s claim of government contractor immunity, which would have shifted liability to the federal government.
If Moderna wins its appeal to the federal circuit, no additional payment will be required. If it does not prevail, it will pay the extra amount within 90 days. Arbutus and Genevant would refund the amount with interest if Moderna later succeeds in further proceedings.
“Resolving this legacy matter from our pandemic response removes uncertainty and allows us to turn our full focus to Moderna’s exciting near-term future,” said Stéphane Bancel, chief executive officer of Moderna.
Genevant, based in Vancouver, Canada, develops delivery platforms that include LNP technology.
“We are pleased with this settlement, which allows us to put this lengthy dispute behind us and remain focused on our mission to leverage our world-class nucleic acid delivery systems to bring innovative medicines to people who need them,” said CEO James Heyes.
His counterpart at Arbutus, a virology-focused biotech firm based in Warminster, Pennsylvania, hailed the settlement.
“This is a transformative outcome for Arbutus as a company,” said Lindsay Androski, president and chief executive officer, adding that it provides “long-overdue recognition that the COVID-19 vaccines would never have made it to the world without the seminal work” of its scientists.
Roivant noted the settlement’s implications for its ongoing litigation against Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE over similar patent issues. Comirnaty, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, accounts for about two-thirds of global COVID-19 mRNA vaccine sales to date.
“This outcome speaks to the fundamental role that Genevant’s foundational LNP technology played in enabling the world’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Matt Gline, CEO of Roivant. “We will continue to be capital efficient with these proceeds with an additional $500 million authorized by our board for share repurchases.”
Roivant’s board authorized a $1 billion share repurchase program, including a prior $500 million approval.
Moderna has filed its own intellectual property claims against other companies, including Pfizer and BioNTech.
