Covid jab maker Moderna sues rival Pfizer claiming it COPIED its vaccine

COVID jab maker Moderna is suing Pfizer — claiming it copied its vaccine.

American firm Moderna says it was the first to devise tech that has saved millions.

Yesterday the pharma giant said it patented its idea six years ago as it filed suits in America and Germany, where US rival Pfizer’s partner BioNTech is based.

It claimed Pfizer’s jab used the same genetic code and chemical modification to reduce side-effects.

Moderna’s Shannon Thyme Klinger said: “We believe Pfizer and BioNTech unlawfully copied Moderna’s inventions and they have continued to use them without permission.”

Moderna’s mRNA vaccine uses manmade genetic code to trigger an immune response in the body and develop antibodies.

Pfizer’s jab also uses mRNA and it made £31billion from its vaccine last year, compared with its rival’s £15billion.

Moderna says it wants Pfizer to compensate it for the amount of jabs sold to wealthy nations since March.

It has not specified a figure.

UK Covid cases are the lowest for two months, with 1.4million people infected last week.

Cases are on par with early June, before the summer wave, and England’s hospital patient numbers have more than halved since July’s peak to 6,249.

Sarah Crofts, of the Office for National Statistics, said: “Infections continue to head in the right direction across all of the UK.”