VaxPaL

VaxPaL

MPP’s patents database VaxPAL is a free resource that provides information on the patent status of COVID-19 vaccines worldwide.

Welcome to VaxPaL, MPP’s new patents database devoted to COVID-19 vaccines. VaxPaL builds on MPP’s 10-year experience in mapping patents on key health technologies through MedsPaL, the world’s leading tool on the patent status of essential medicines in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

When first launched in June 2021, VaxPaL provided patent information on COVID-19 vaccines compiled into an Excel workbook. VaxPaL was released into a fully searchable online database in December 2021.

It should be noted that VaxPaL is NOT a freedom to operate analysis and should not be interpreted as such. The patent information on COVID-19 vaccines was compiled for the purpose of providing greater transparency on patents relating to key COVID-19 vaccines and focuses primarily (though not exclusively) on patents filed by the entities that have developed each vaccine. Read full disclaimer.

Users are invited to send any comments/suggestions on VaxPaL, including any corrections, to vaxpal@medicinespatentpool.org

Access VaxPaL


Q&A on VaxPaL

The database enables users to search patent information by originator/company, vaccine name and jurisdiction. It also enables free text searches, such as by patent numbers, vaccine brand name, vaccine development name, applicant name, patent status or any combination of these. Wherever a patent has been applied for or granted in a given jurisdiction, a patent card provides detailed information about the application, and links to further information.

The database covers COVID-19 vaccines approved in at least one country as well as those progressing on WHO EUL/PQ evaluation process.

> Click the link called “Status of COVID-19 vaccines within WHO EUL/prequalification evaluation process” under the EUL Submissions tab.

Additional vaccine candidates will be added in the coming weeks.

VaxPaL includes patent information for all countries for which patent data could be obtained.

Information on the main patents and patent applications for the selected vaccines is collected from various sources such as publicly available patent search databases, regional or national patent office databases, the originator/innovator’s website, scientific literature or financial statements and was manually reviewed. Other information such as licence agreements and potential contractual arrangements was also drawn from various sources such as financial statements, innovator’s website, or press releases. The bulk of the searching and analysis of patent data is performed by iProPAT Intellectual Property Solutions for each vaccine. The data is then compiled, cross-checked and supplemented by MPP with information/patents identified from other publicly available patent landscapes and internal searches. See details on the methodology used for identifying relevant patents and patent applications below.

The database contains patent families identified as being relevant or potentially relevant for the selected COVID-19 vaccines.

A comment “(relevance could not be ascertained at the time of identification)” is added to the Patent Description to indicate when further analysis is still needed to assess the relevance of a patent family because detailed technical information on the vaccine is not publicly available yet (e.g. technical information or processes, or exact composition).

The database is updated to add new vaccines with their relevant patent families and detailed patent status. Newly identified patent families for the vaccines already listed will also be added.

We update patent data on VaxPaL on a regular basis. For certain countries, for which data is available on the European Patent Office’s Open Patent Service, the information is updated on a monthly basis. For other countries, for products that are regularly searched on VaxPaL and attract the most attention, we undertake updates on a quarterly basis. For other products, information will be updated at least once a year.

The methodology and procedures used by iProPAT Intellectual Property Solutions for the identification of relevant patents for the COVID vaccines was as follows:

Step 1: (Collecting basic information on the vaccine)

In this step basic information on each vaccine was retrieved, such as approval information, product labels, vaccine construct and its preparation, composition, ingredients used in compositions, indication and technology involved in the preparation of each vaccine, and information from journals and press releases. Collecting this information relied mainly on different databases including those of the USFDA, EMA, WHO, clinical trials database, SEC filings & press releases of innovator companies as well as third parties.

A search for information from the innovator and/or other companies involved in the development/manufacturing of the vaccine was conducted, searching for any licence agreements related to the product. If so, a search was conducted on the companies that were involved to see if any terms and conditions were available in the public domain.

 

Step 2: (Product study)

This step involved an understanding of the key modifications made in the vaccine construct to elicit pharmacological action and method of preparation, if applicable; an understanding of the role of excipients used in the vaccine; and an understanding of the technology and its applicability.

Step 3: (Patent search)

This step involved:

    • A search for patent information in company websites and press releases to check whether any patents are listed for the vaccine by the innovator or any third party. We also searched in the Annual Reports of the innovator, journals related to the vaccine and third-party articles to check whether any patent information is listed.
    • A search in publicly available patent searching databases like USPTO, WIPO, ESPACENET and Google Patents database with keywords like inventor names disclosed in publicly available literature, vaccine candidates, and excipient combinations, technical names, vaccine codes and innovator names.

Step 4: (Picking relevant patents & providing patent status in worldwide countries)

This step involved picking relevant patents based on the information available, mapping them for vaccine candidate relevance and collecting information on the status of relevant patents in countries around the world.

Patent status information was collected from public patent databases including national and regional online patent registers. When the family included an Indian patent or patent application, the latest Form 3 submitted by the applicant to the Indian Patent Office and listing equivalents worldwide (under Section 8 of the Indian Patents Act 1970) was also checked and used as a source for identifying family members.

iProPAT landscapes for each vaccine were reviewed and compiled by MPP. The patent families were cross-checked and supplemented with information identified from other sources such as publicly available landscape or articles.


Sources

Various sources used to identify or cross check identified patent families.

Source

Date

Direct link

Description

Moderna 8 October 2020 Direct link Representative US patents relevant to our mRNA-1273 vaccine against COVID-19, are available here.
Moderna 8 October 2020 Direct link Moderna will not enforce our COVID-19 related patents against those making vaccines intended to combat the pandemic. Further, to eliminate any perceived IP barriers to vaccine development during the pandemic period, upon request we are also willing to license our intellectual property for COVID-19 vaccines to others for the post pandemic period.
Reuters, Jan Wolfe 23 July 23 2020 Direct link Moderna loses challenge to Arbutus patent on vaccine technology
Public Citizen 10 November 2020 Direct link Public Citizen – Leading COVID-19 Vaccine Candidates Depend on NIH Technology – Nov 2020, by Zain Rizvi
IPI. International pharmaceutical industry 19 October 2020 Direct link IPI – The Patent Landscape Behind COVID-19 Vaccines – Oct 2020
Public Citizen 16 November 2020 Direct link Public Citizen – BioNTech and Pfizer’s BNT162 Vaccine Patent Landscape – Nov 2020; by Mario Gaviria and Burcu Kilic
Public Citizen 16 November 2020 Direct link Public Citizen –  mRNA-1273 Vaccine Patent Landscape (For NIH-Moderna Vaccine) – Nov 2020, By Mario Gaviria and Burcu Kilic
Public Citizen 25 June 2020 Direct link The NIH Vaccine, by Zain Rizvi
Brazilian patent office 18 November 2020 Direct link VACINAS BASEADAS EM DNA PARA PREVENÇAO DA
COVID-19: Mecanismo de ação, ensaios clínicos e pedidos de
patentes.
[INO 4800; Cadila-ZyCov-DD; GX-19; Osaka-AGO 301A]
Brazilian patent office 26 March 2020 Direct link Panorama dos documentos de patente relacionados às vacinas de RNA em testes clínicos para a prevenção da COVID-19
Brazilian patent office 26 March 2020 Direct link VACINAS À BASE DE SUBUNIDADE PROTEICA PARA PREVENÇÃO DA COVID-19: Mecanismo de ação, ensaios clínicos e pedidos de patentes
Publicado em 26/03/2020 18h32 Atualizado em 06/05/2021 00h02
(NVX-CoV2373)
IP Australia Patent Analytics Hub 2020? Direct link human coronavirus vaccines. Snapshot of patent families filed between 2000 and 019

Archive

You may download the original excel-based landscape published on 09.06.2021 by clicking HERE.

Disclaimer

Users should NOT consider VaxPaL (VaxPaL – COVID-19 vaccines patent landscape) a complete and authoritative source of patent information, and it is not meant to provide a ‘freedom-to-operate’ analysis. It only provides a snapshot at a point in time, based on the information available to MPP.

We do not accept any legal responsibility for the accuracy of data. In particular, we do not guarantee it is complete, up to date or fit for specific purposes. Users should undertake additional country search and legal analysis before making any decision based on this data.

A full understanding of the patent situation in any country, for a specific vaccine, requires additional information and analysis not provided in this database. This includes an analysis of the specific claims of a national/regional patent application or granted patent.

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