01:45 PM EDT, 10/21/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Moderna ( MRNA ) is facing another patent lawsuit in Delaware federal court, which alleges that the company's vaccines infringed on intellectual property owned by Northwestern University.

The lawsuit alleges that Moderna's ( MRNA ) lipid nanoparticles, which facilitate mRNA transport into human body, violate several of the university's patents licensed to Zylem Biosciences, according to a statement released Monday.

Northwestern University's allegations are similar to the ones made by GSK (GSK) last week in which the British pharmaceutical company laid claim to Moderna's ( MRNA ) use of lipid nanoparticles to develop its COVID-19 vaccine Spikevax.

While GSK had said it was looking to recover "reasonable royalty" for Moderna's ( MRNA ) alleged infringement, Northwestern University's lawsuit "seeks damages to prevent further unauthorized use of the patented innovations but does not seek any injunctive relief," according to the statement.

According to the lawsuit, the lipid nanoparticles technology that helped Moderna ( MRNA ) develop its vaccines were invented at Northwestern University by researchers including C. Shad Thaxton and Kaylin McMahon, who are also the co-founders of Zylem Biosciences.

Moderna ( MRNA ) did not immediately respond to a request for comment from MT Newswires. Its shares were down 1.5% in recent Monday trading.

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