March 25 (Reuters) - BioNTech said on Monday

the U.S. National Institutes of Health has sent a notice to the

German company regarding default in the payment of royalties and

other amounts related to its COVID-19 vaccine.

BioNTech's royalty payment dispute relates to its COVID-19

vaccine for which it partnered with U.S. pharma giant Pfizer ( PFE )

.

The company, however, said it disagreed with the positions

being taken by the NIH and intends to defend against all

allegations of breach.

Spokespersons for the U.S. NIH did not immediately respond

to Reuters' request for a comment.