Healthcare & pharmaceuticals

Branched meanings: Lexicography of ‘branched alkyl’ decides Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine patent dispute

Branched meanings: Lexicography of ‘branched alkyl’ decides Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine patent dispute

1 July 2025
By Suzy Madar, Emily King
The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) recently decided that Moderna’s mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine, SPIKEVAX®, did not infringe Alnylam’s patents because the cationic lipid used in the vaccine, SM-102, was not a cationic lipid with a ‘branched alkyl’ group.[1] The case turned on the proper construction of ‘branched alkyl’.
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