Mainz (dpa)
The German pharmaceutical company BioNTech announced on Friday that it has reached settlements in the US to resolve a royalties dispute with the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the University of Pennsylvania.
BioNTech and its partner US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer are to pay a total of a 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion) to the US health agency and the University of Pennsylvania, BioNTech said. The university and the NIH are cooperation partners.
Approximately 759 million euros will go to the agency, while the university will receive up to about 448 million euros, it said. BioNTech had partnered with US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer to launch a coronavirus vaccine.
According to earlier statements by BioNTech, the dispute with the university was about "non-exclusive rights" to patent applications used in the Covid-19 vaccine from BioNTech and Pfizer.
The disagreement with the NIH related to licensing fees and other associated payments.
BioNTech emphasised that neither agreement constituted an admission of liability with regard to the allegations made.
A company spokeswoman clarified that these settlements are distinct from ongoing legal disputes with competitors such as Moderna and CureVac.