On September 2, 2020, Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) sent a letter to the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) regarding a potential failure by Moderna, Inc. to disclose federal funding in patents supported by BARDA. KEI requested information concerning the measures that BARDA is taking to ensure that Moderna properly discloses BARDA funding of inventions for which Moderna holds patents.
KEI examined 127 USPTO-granted patents and 154 USPTO patent applications to “Moderna” or “ModernaTX”, and found no disclosures of federal funding for the inventions from any agency of the federal government, including BARDA (we are aware of one WIPO PCT application filed with Vanderbilt University that does disclose National Institutes of Health (NIH) and DARPA funding).
KEI has identified several sources of funding from BARDA that may be related to Moderna’s patented inventions, including funding for a Zika vaccine as well as the significant funding from the current push for a COVID-19 vaccine.
KEI’s letter to BARDA is available here: KEI_Letter_BARDA_Moderna_PatentDisclosures_2Sept2020
KEI has made a similiar reques to DARPA, an agency of the US Department of Defense that has funded Moderna’s vaccine efforts since 2013 (see: https://www.keionline.org/33763).
More on KEI’s work related to Moderna available here: https://www.keionline.org/moderna