Tolulope Anthony Adekola, When mRNA Technology Meets Patent Law: Innovation, Barriers, and the Public Health(2023):
The success of messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) technology during the COVID-19 pandemic has ushered in a new era of vaccine and therapeutic development. In this rapidly evolving field, top biotech and biopharma companies are constantly searching for new opportunities to create innovative treatments and vaccines. However, the landscape of mRNA patents is getting complicated and dense, with an accumulation of partially overlapping patent rights that require multiple rights holders’ permission for use and commercialization. Additionally, there are several pending patent lawsuits related to key components of the mRNA technology which have strong implications for follow-on innovation and technology diffusion in the field. The case of mRNA technology– as often happens with emerging technologies – is therefore emblematic of the policy dilemma faced by patent law as to how to balance economic incentives in a cumulative innovation setting. The paper maps out relevant legal factors that, under different conditions, might aggravate or mitigate the potential negative effects of patents in the field. While the paper presents the results of the exploratory phase of research, it sets a framework for the further, more targeted examination of the identified issues.