Defendant
2 cases as defendant.
BioNTech SE (short name: BioNTech; "Biopharmaceutical New Technologies") is a German immunotherapy company headquartered in Mainz, Germany, founded in 2008 by Uğur Şahin, Özlem Türeci and Christoph Huber. It is publicly listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker BNTX (ADSs) since October 2019, and trades on the Frankfurt/Xetra exchange. Per its Form 20-F, BioNTech had approximately 6,772 full-time-equivalent employees as of 31 December 2024; Fortune reports roughly 7,807 employees for fiscal 2025, when revenue was about €2.9 billion and the company posted a net loss. Market capitalization has been reported in the $20–28 billion range over 2025–2026. BioNTech is an independent, standalone parent company — not a subsidiary.
Products / operations. BioNTech is an operating biopharmaceutical company. Its only commercial product is Comirnaty, the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine developed and marketed with Pfizer (also partnered with Fosun Pharma in China). It has one of the largest mRNA manufacturing footprints outside the U.S. The bulk of the pipeline is oncology, spanning immunomodulators, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), mRNA cancer immunotherapies and CAR-T programs, with late-stage candidates including pumitamig (PD-L1×VEGF-A bispecific, partnered with BMS), gotistobart, trastuzumab pamirtecan, BNT323/DB-1303 and autogene cevumeran. Collaborators include Pfizer, Genentech/Roche, Genmab, Regeneron, OncoC4, DualityBio and MediLink.
Patent-litigation posture. BioNTech is an operating company being attacked, not an asserter. In the tracked data it appears as a defendant in both of its two cases and as plaintiff in none — consistent with a large commercial manufacturer defending its products rather than enforcing a portfolio. Both tracked suits sit in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey (Newark); neither is in the Eastern District of Texas.
Notable cases. Both tracked matters are Arbutus Pharma Corp. et al. v. Pfizer Inc. et al., filed 4 April 2023, in which Arbutus Biopharma and exclusive licensee Genevant Sciences assert lipid-nanoparticle (LNP) delivery patents against Pfizer and BioNTech over Comirnaty. Publicly reported context: Arbutus/Genevant have expanded enforcement internationally (Canada and the UPC), while Arbutus separately settled LNP litigation with Moderna. BioNTech has also disclosed mRNA patent litigation involving Moderna and GSK, though those are not reflected in the tracked case list.
Arbutus and Genevant sued Pfizer and BioNTech in D.N.J. over Comirnaty, asserting 11141378 plus 9504651, 8492359, 11298320, and 11318098. The case remains pending with claim construction on September 9, 2025, and ongoing discovery as of April 26, 2026.
Arbutus and Genevant asserted five LNP patents, including the '359 patent, against Pfizer and BioNTech over Comirnaty. The action remains pending after a September 2025 claim construction ruling and was carved out of the Moderna settlement.