CureVac Tanks 25% After German Court Invalidates Patent Lawsuit Against BioNTech

Shares of CureVac N.V. (CVAC) tanked over 25% on Tuesday morning after a German court quashed a patent violation lawsuit brought by the company against rival BioNTech.

CVAC is currently trading at $4.2900, down $1.5300 or 26.29%, on a huge volume of 10.2 million shares, above average volume of 0.6 million, on the Nasdaq. The stock opened its trading at $3.6100 after closing Monday at $5.8200. The stock has traded between $3.4100 and $12.7900 in the past 52-week period.

“The patent is being declared invalid for the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany,” Walter Schramm, presiding judge in Germany’s Munich-based patent court, said in his ruling after a hearing.

The ruling represents a first decision on validity in ongoing patent litigation between CureVac and BioNTech in Germany, which involves a total of eight CureVac intellectual property rights.

Proceedings continue regarding the seven remaining rights, for which validity, infringement and potential damages will be decided individually.

“We consider the patent court’s decision unfortunate also in view of the positive preliminary opinion on EP 1 857 122 B1 the court provided earlier this year. The decision is only one of many that will be made regarding the use of CureVac’s intellectual property in the development of Comirnaty. We remain highly confident that our pioneering role in mRNA technology and continuing innovation in the field made essential contributions to safe and efficacious COVID-19 vaccines,” said Dr. Alexander Zehnder, Chief Executive Officer of CureVac.

CureVac to appeal before the German Federal Court of Justice, while remaining confident in the strength of its broad intellectual property portfolio.

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