2023-10-07 12:12:53
Mr. Zehnder, this week the Nobel Prize in Medicine went to the mRNA specialists Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman. What was your first reaction?
I thought it was great. We research on the same track. The two award winners are basic researchers with decades of experience; they contributed to the Covid vaccine being developed during the pandemic. The price is well deserved, no question. And I am pleased that it is also a prize for mRNA as a technology, which we have also been researching for more than 20 years.
Until recently, Ms. Karikó was a senior manager at your competitor Biontech. Isn’t it also a price for your competitor? So a little reason to be annoyed?
Ms. Karikó is a scientist. She was already very active in this area before she came to Biontech. So absolutely no grudges.
Wouldn’t Curevac’s founder Ingmar Hoerr also deserve the prize? After all, he has been working on this technology since the 1990s.
I don’t want to be in the shoes of the Nobel Prize Committee and have to choose one or two. Of course, many people have contributed to the success of mRNA. Mr. Hoerr, as a pioneer with Curevac, definitely does too.
Let’s move on to the general relationship with your direct competitors. If you look at the huge success of Biontech and Moderna in the pandemic and their serious failure: isn’t Curevac the sad third party?
We are definitely not the sad third party. In biotechnology you have to have a thick skin. It is normal that there are setbacks. What impresses me more: How Curevac got back up…
…after your Covid vaccine flopped, destroying investors’ billions in the stock market and the company needed government aid…
…how it recovered from the setback, developed the second generation of the platform with which we are now making very good progress in the clinical phase. We are now on the right track.
Alexander Zehnder : Image: Curevac
You are currently making more headlines with the topic of patent disputes. What is the latest status and when can we expect results?
We are convinced that the development of the Comirnaty vaccine is also based on inventions made at Curevac. So we should also get a share of the profits; Money that we want to reinvest in our research pipeline.
Are you talking about a fair share?
It is common in the biotech industry to have disputes over patents. But patents are extremely important. If you were an inventor and someone made a lot of money from your invention, you would want to get some of it.
Where are the procedures currently?
There are a total of two procedures, one in Germany and one in the USA. Both against Biontech or Biontech and Pfizer.
Why not against Moderna too?
Compared to Biontech, Moderna has a significantly stronger patent landscape, with many more in-house developments.
What’s next in Germany?
In this country there is a two-pronged legal review, unlike in the USA, where everything is decided in one procedure. The first part deals with the question: Is a property right violated? The Düsseldorf Regional Court is currently deciding this. At the same time, the authorities responsible for patents are checking whether the respective property right is still valid, i.e. valid.
What does that mean specifically?
In total, there are currently five intellectual property rights that are being discussed. The Düsseldorf Regional Court has initially postponed a decision on the violation of our intellectual property rights, i.e. put it on hold until the decision on validity has been made. All of this is a German legal specialty that is not so easy for laypeople to understand.
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