CureVac announces resolution of patent litigation with Pfizer/BioNTech
CureVac N.V., a multinational biotech company developing a new class of transformative medicines based on messenger RNA (mRNA), has announced that CureVac N.V. and an affiliate (together, “CureVac”), and an affiliate of GSK plc have entered into agreements with BioNTech SE and an affiliate (together, “BioNTech”) and Pfizer, Inc. to resolve and dismiss all pending patent litigation in the United States between the companies related to mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines and to set a framework for resolving ongoing patent disputes outside the US upon closing of BioNTech’s acquisition of CureVac announced on June 12, 2025.
Under the terms of the agreements, CureVac and GSK will receive in aggregate a payment of $740 million as well as single-digit royalties on sales of COVID-19 vaccines in the United States going forward. Additionally, CureVac will receive $50 million from GSK for monetizing a portion of U.S. product royalties due under its existing license agreement announced on July 3, 2024.
Furthermore, as part of the settlement agreements, CureVac will grant BioNTech and Pfizer a non-exclusive license to manufacture, use, import into the U.S. and sell mRNA-based COVID-19 and/or influenza products. Such non-exclusive license will be expanded into a worldwide license upon the closing of BioNTech’s acquisition of CureVac.
Subject to regulatory approval, BioNTech’s acquisition of CureVac as announced on June 12, 2025 will be implemented as planned and its terms will remain unaffected.
CureVac is a 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 precision immunotherapy candidates to treat cancer. 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.
