On August 21, 2006 the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) filed a patent titled “RNA containing modified nucleosides and methods of use thereof“, on behalf of the two “inventors” Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman. On October 2, 2012 the patent application was granted.
The patent is, in part, for the used of “pseudouridine” in create a synthetic mRNA code, which help’s the mRNA evade immune detection and last longer than natural mRNA
In 2007, the companies mRNA RiboTherapeutics Inc. and CellScript LLC. were established, both connected to Gary Dahl, the director and CEO respectively. mRNA RiboTherapeutics has an exclusive license to the patent from the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania. That patent was then sublicensed to CellScript. [2, 3, 4, 5]
In 2017, CellScript signed a “Patent Sublicense Agreement” with Moderna on Jun 26, 2017 and the next month mRNA RiboTherapeutics signed one on July 14, 2017 with BioNTech.
CellScript, who supplies the modified mRNA [with minimal safety data], went from $7.4M in revenue in 2019 to just under $50M in 2020. Moderna was to pay “a non-refundable, non-creditable sublicense fee of twenty-two million U.S. dollars ($22,000,000)” by an undisclosed date in 2019, though BioNTech’s fees & royalties are not disclosed.