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ARTICLE · 30 JUNE 2026

Perfect Storm - Four Drivers Behind The MRNA Litigation Wave

Potter Clarkson LLP
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The COVID-19 pandemic thrust mRNA technology into the global spotlight, transforming decades of foundational research into commercially valuable vaccines almost overnight. This rapid commercialization, combined with enormous revenues and a complex web of overlapping patents, has triggered an unprecedented wave of intellectual property disputes that is reshaping how value is allocated across the biotechnology industry and determining who controls access to next-generation RNA-based medicines.

United KingdomIntellectual Property
Tomasz Wirt
Tomasz Wirt
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The success of mRNA vaccines has triggered a wave of patent disputes as companies seek to establish ownership of the technologies underpinning this rapidly growing field. The article explores the key drivers behind this litigation and its implications for innovation, licensing, and competition in the mRNA sector.

Messenger RNA (“mRNA”) is a naturally occurring molecule that carries instructions from DNA, telling cells which proteins to make.

Scientists have explored whether this process could be harnessed for medical purposes — including using mRNA as a way of instructing the body to produce certain proteins, on demand.

In theory, this offers a powerful and flexible approach to medicine. Instead of developing a different drug for each disease, mRNA technology could provide a new platform: introducing genetic “instructions” to prompt the body to produce specific proteins, for example to train the immune system to recognise a virus or to target cancer cells.

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