Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Moderna Loses Patent Fight Over Covid Vaccine
Reuters: Real-World Data Shows Moderna Vaccine Highly Effective
Moderna's mRNA COVID-19 vaccine is proving effective in the real world, according to doctors at Kaiser Permanente in California who have been tracking nearly 706,000 adults, half of whom had received the vaccine. Five months after the second dose, the vaccine was still 87% effective against SARS-CoV-2 infection, 96% effective against COVID-19 hospitalization, and 98% effective against COVID-19 death, researchers reported in The Lancet Regional Health - Americas. Despite a wide range of chronic diseases among those in the study, the vaccine's effectiveness against infection ranged from 83% to 92% across age, sex, racial, and ethnic subgroups, researchers said. (Lapid, 12/1)
Reuters: Moderna Could Be Sued Over Vaccines As Court Upholds Arbutus Patents
Moderna Inc could face a patent infringement lawsuit over its COVID-19 vaccine after a federal appeals court on Wednesday rejected its challenge to patents belonging to Arbutus Biopharma Corp. ... The Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals let stand an administrative panel's findings that Arbutus' patents - which may cover technology used in the vaccines - are valid, as the science involved was not previously known. (Pierson, 12/1)
Axios: Moderna Loses Patent Battles To Arbutus Over Its COVID Vaccine
A federal appeals court on Wednesday dismissed two patent challenges from Moderna over key components involved in making its COVID-19 vaccine. The court's decision to side with Arbutus Biopharma means Arbutus could potentially sue Moderna for patent infringement and demand royalties from Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine, which is expected to generate up to $18 billion of revenue this year. (Herman, 12/1)
Reuters: Moderna Exec Says Company Could Have Omicron Booster Ready In March
Moderna Inc could have a COVID-19 booster shot targeting the Omicron variant tested and ready to file for U.S. authorization as soon as March, the company's president said on Wednesday. Moderna President Stephen Hoge said he believes booster shots carrying genes specifically targeting mutations in the newly-discovered Omicron variant would be the quickest way to address any anticipated reductions in vaccine efficacy it may cause. "We've already started that program," he told Reuters. (Erman and Steenhuysen, 12/1)
Meanwhile, a future vaccine tech is in the news —
NPR: A Different Kind of COVID Vaccine Is About Ready to Roll
A new kind of COVID-19 vaccine is about to roll out around the world. Although it won't replace the highly successful vaccines currently available, it could make a difference in the course of the pandemic, especially in lower resourced countries. These new vaccines are what's called protein subunit vaccines. They work by injecting people with a tiny portion of the virus. In the case of the COVID-19 vaccine, that tiny portion is the so-called spike protein critical for the virus to enter cells. (Palca, 12/1)
