Moderna sued Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech on Friday for patent infringement in the development of the first COVID-19 vaccine approved in the United States, alleging they copied technology that Moderna developed years before the pandemic, Trend reports citing Reuters.
Pfizer shares fell nearly 1%, while BioNTech U.S.-listed shares were down about 1.5% and Moderna shares slipped 1.7% on Friday.
The lawsuit, which seeks undetermined monetary damages, was filed in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts. In a news release on Friday, Moderna said the lawsuit would be filed also in the Regional Court of Duesseldorf in Germany.