BioNTech enters settlement with US company, UPenn over COVID vaccine royalties

(Reuters) -BioNTech has entered into two separate settlement agreements with the U.S. Nationwide Institutes of Well being and the College of Pennsylvania over the fee of royalties associated to its COVID-19 vaccine, the corporate stated in filings.

The German firm, which companions with U.S. drugmaker Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) for its COVID-19 vaccine, stated on Friday it might pay $791.5 million to the U.S. company to resolve a default discover.

Individually, the corporate pays $467 million to the College of Pennsylvania (Penn), which has agreed to dismiss a lawsuit introduced towards the vaccine maker accusing it of underpaying royalties.

BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) stated accomplice Pfizer will reimburse it for as much as $170 million of the royalties payable to Penn and $364.5 million of the royalties paid to the Nationwide Institutes of Well being (NIH)for 2020-2023 vaccine gross sales.

NIH and Penn didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.

The U.S. authorities is owed royalty funds below the phrases of the license BioNTech has taken for sure patents owned by the NIH, amongst different entities.

Penn’s lawsuit had stated BioNTech owes the college a higher share of its worldwide vaccine gross sales for utilizing “foundational” messenger RNA (mRNA) innovations developed by Penn professors and Nobel Prize winners Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman.

The corporate additionally amended its license agreements with each NIH and Penn, agreeing to pay a low single-digit share of its vaccine web gross sales to each the entities.

Each settlements embody a framework for a license to make use of NIH and Penn’s patents together merchandise.

The agreements don’t represent an admission of legal responsibility in both case, the corporate stated.