BioNTech has reached two separate agreements to settle royalty payment issues regarding its COVID-19 vaccine. These settlements involve the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the University of Pennsylvania, according to company filings made public on Friday.
The German biotech firm, which collaborated with the American pharmaceutical leader Pfizer to produce the COVID-19 vaccine, has agreed to pay $791.5 million to the NIH. This payment is part of an arrangement stemming from BioNTech’s licensing of certain patents from the NIH and other parties, entitling the U.S. government to royalty payments.
In addition, BioNTech will pay the University of Pennsylvania $467 million. This settlement will lead to the university dropping its lawsuit that alleged the company had underpaid its rightful royalties.
According to the lawsuit filed by the University of Pennsylvania, BioNTech obtained a sublicense for the university’s technology through another company back in 2017. This technology was later instrumental in developing the vaccine, Comirnaty, in partnership with Pfizer.
This report was brought to you by Bhanvi Satija and Sneha S K from Bengaluru, with editing from Anil D’Silva.
