Acuitas, CureVac settle lawsuit over COVID-19 vaccine

Biotech company Acuitas Therapeutics and Germany-based CureVac have settled Acuitas’ lawsuit demanding credit for inventions related to COVID-19 vaccines, according to a filing on Thursday in Virginia federal court.

Acuitas sued CureVac last year in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, claiming its scientists should have been named as co-inventors of CureVac patents covering technology used in messenger RNA (mRNA)-based shots. CureVac told the court on Thursday that they had settled their dispute and will ask to dismiss the case.

Representatives for Acuitas and CureVac did not immediately respond to requests for comment and for more information about the settlement.

Canada-based Acuitas said in the lawsuit, filed last November, that CureVac omitted Acuitas scientists from its patent applications after they collaborated to develop lipid nanoparticle mRNA-delivery technology during the COVID-19 pandemic.

CureVac denied the allegations in a February court filing.

Acuitas asked the court to force CureVac to list its scientists as co-inventors on the patents, which would allow Acuitas to license them without CureVac’s permission.

Acuitas separately licensed the lipid nanoparticle technology used in Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 shots. CureVac has accused Pfizer and BioNTech of infringing its patents, including the patents at issue in the Acuitas case, in an ongoing lawsuit in Virginia.

The case is Acuitas Therapeutics Inc v. CureVac SE, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, No. 2:23-cv-00610.