Moderna sees no impact on COVID-19 vaccine from potential patent waiver

Moderna Inc on Thursday said it believes countries around the globe would continue buying its COVID-19 vaccine for years even if patents on the shots are waived, noting that rivals would face significant hurdles in scaling up manufacturing.

The comments come a day after the United States said it would support waiving intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines in order to help speed an end to the pandemic, paving the way for what could be months of negotiations to hammer out a specific waiver plan. Moderna shares were off 7.5% after falling as much as nearly 12% earlier. Shares of other COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers like Pfizer Inc were also down on the patent news.