BioNTech Faces NIH Default Notice Over COVID-19 Vaccine Royalties

BioNTech are facing issues related to their success during the pandemic. The company has received a notice of default from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the U.S. medical research agency, alleging unpaid royalties on its COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty, developed in partnership with Pfizer. The NIH claims BioNTech violated their licensing agreement, whilst BioNTech disputes the NIH's allegations, intending to defend itself vigorously. This issue is part of broader legal challenges facing BioNTech, including a patent dispute with Moderna over vaccine technology, and separately with German biopharmaceutical company, CureVac.

The following article originally appeared in Reuters.

BioNTech said on Monday the U.S. National Institutes of Health has sent a notice to the German company regarding default on the payment of royalties and other amounts related to its COVID-19 vaccine.

BioNTech, which partnered with U.S. pharma giant Pfizer for its COVID-19 vaccine, however, said it disagreed with the positions being taken by the NIH and intends to defend against all allegations of breach.

Spokespersons for the U.S. NIH did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for a comment.

BioNTech has taken the license for certain patents from the NIH, among other entities, due to which the U.S. government is owed certain royalty payments, according to the German company's annual report.

The German government had granted BioNTech 375 million euros ($445 million) for its COVID‑19 vaccine development program in September 2020.

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