Moderna once pledged to keep Covid vaccine patent-free. Now it's changing course

Moderna pledged not to pursue patents on its COVID-19 vaccine during the pandemic in the fall of 2020, right before the vaccine was revealed to be highly successful.

Moderna gained goodwill as a result of the pledge, which was seen as an effort to help speed the end of the crisis.

Moderna announced on Monday that it was "updating" its guarantee, allowing its patents to be enforced in middle- and high-income countries.

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The company stated that it would "never enforce" its COVID vaccine patents in 92 of the world's poorest countries, many of which are in Africa or Asia, or against other companies developing vaccines specifically for those markets.

Moderna's new position opens the door to it bringing patent-infringement litigation against corporations in wealthier countries who refuse to consent to using the company's technology, but it hasn't said when it will start enforcing its patents.

Moderna of Cambridge, Massachusetts, holds many patents in the United States and other countries that protect different aspects of their Covid-19 vaccine, known as Spikevax.

Some of the company's patents claim to be the first to patent components of the underlying technology, known as messenger RNA, while others concern the use of a coronavirus mRNA vaccine.

Last year, Moderna generated $17.7 billion in income by selling 800 million doses of its COVID vaccine to governments.

This year, the corporation has signed deals to sell at least $19 billion worth of vaccine.

Pfizer, which makes the other commonly used mRNA vaccine in the US and internationally, has a similar policy of not enforcing its patents in the world's poorest countries.

(With inputs from agencies)