On 3 March 2026, Moderna entered into a settlement with Arbutus Biopharma and Genevant Sciences to resolve the global COVID patent litigation, including the lengthy dispute in the US District Court for the District of Delaware. This settlement comes days before the scheduled jury trial on 9 March 2026, which will no longer proceed.
The US litigation commenced on 28 February 2022, when Arbutus/Genevant sued Moderna for alleged patent infringement of six US patents related to the lipid-nanoparticle (LNP) technology used in Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine, Spikevax®. The case later expanded to include Moderna’s RSV vaccine, mRESVIA®, which was approved by the FDA in 2024. In March 2025, Arbutus/Genevant jointly filed five international lawsuits covering 30 countries to enforce patents protecting their LNP technology against Moderna and certain affiliates.
This settlement resolves all litigation worldwide related to Spikevax® (elasomeran) and mRESVIA® vaccines allowing Moderna to develop and supply these vaccines without the risk of further patent disputes between the parties. Moderna will owe no future royalties under the agreement.
Under the settlement terms, Moderna will make a lump sum payment of $950 million in the third quarter of 2026. Moderna will also appeal to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit regarding its potential liability over vaccine sales through government contracts. If Moderna succeeds on the appeal, no further payment will be required. However, if Modern is unsuccessful, the company will be required to pay up to $1.3 billion, depending on the scope of the Federal Circuit’s decision, within 90 days of that ruling. If Moderna prevails with further litigation, Arbutus/Genevant will refund the additional payment with interest.
There has been other ongoing litigation relating to Moderna’s COVID vaccines. In March 2025, five lawsuits were commenced in the same week as two US Moderna patents related to Spikevax® were invalidated by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). The PTAB invalidation followed IPRs filed by Pfizer and BioNTech in 2023 (IPR2023-01358 and IPR2023-01359) against two patents for the Moderna coronavirus vaccine (US10702600 and US10933127) respectively. According to Pfizer/BioNTech media releases, the decision was delivered by PTAB on 6 March 2025. Moderna has appealed the PTAB decision to the Federal Circuit.