Bayer sues multiple COVID vaccine makers in lawsuit over mRNA technology

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Independent

Tuesday 06 January 2026 16:42 EST


Pharmaceutical giant Bayer has launched legal action against leading COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers Pfizer, BioNTech, and Moderna, alleging the misuse of its messenger RNA (mRNA) technology.

Filed in a Delaware federal court, the lawsuits claim the companies copied technology developed by Bayer's subsidiary, Monsanto, in the 1980s. This pioneering work, originally designed to strengthen mRNA in crops for stability, was allegedly applied to stabilise the genetic material within the COVID-19 vaccines.

Bayer has also filed a similar lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson in a New Jersey federal court, arguing a DNA-based process used in its vaccine production infringes a Bayer patent. These actions contribute to a complex web of patent disputes surrounding the blockbuster COVID-19 jabs, including an existing lawsuit between Moderna and Pfizer.

Bayer, which was not involved in developing or selling COVID-19 vaccines, is seeking unspecified monetary damages, clarifying it is not aiming to halt manufacturing. The financial context is notable: Pfizer and BioNTech reported over $3.3 billion in revenue from global sales of their vaccine Comirnaty in 2024, while Moderna earned $3.2 billion from its Spikevax.

Read more: https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/bayer-covid-vaccines-mrna-technology-pfizer-biontech-moderna-b2895697.html

[C Moon]

1. Well, thanks for saving the world Bayer. :/

I hate corporations. 5 years later they sue companies for billions when an asshole anti-vax is leading our country.
Add Bayer to the do not buy list.

[Ray Bruns]

2. Bayer trying to get on the train after it has already left the station.

It doesn’t sound like the technologies are even remote related.

[OldBaldy1701E]

3. That is my take on it.

They want some of that sweet COVID money, and since the government already gave that out, they are trying to claim some of it as their own.

Fuck right off with that, Bayer. I know your hierarchy is kissing Dear Leader's ass so that he will make this happen, but it is not going to happen.

[Clouds Passing]

4. Bayer had the worst covid vaccine

As always FRICK monsanto!

[ret5hd]

5. gotta try to make up for those asbestos-in-baby-talc and...

Vioxx-causes-heart-attacks fiascos somehow!

[GiqueCee]

6. Bayer has long had...

... a very ugly reputation. Promoting neonicotinoids when they knew it was killing honeybees and other pollinators crucial to food production is but one outstanding travesty on the long list of crimes against humanity of which they are guilty.
Monsanto – now a tentacle of Bayer – former CEO, Hugh Grant (NOT the actor!) is reputed to have once proclaimed, "No food shall be grown that we do not own." He also oversaw the deployment of marauding legions of bloodthirsty lawyers to sue farmers whose crops were pollinated by patented pollen from neighboring farms and was blown into their fields by... the fucking wind.
Bayer took one look and said, you're our boy!
There is no bottom to their cesspool of malice and depravity.

[lonely bird]

7. Yup

Did Nazi that coming from Bayer.

I’ll see myself out.

[GiqueCee]

9. Well...

... Bayer is a German company, and does its best to play down its sordid history during WWII.

[Martin68]

8. Fuck Bayer.

[yardwork]

10. Bayer lies.

The mRNA technology was discovered by independent researchers at not-for-profit research institutions.