LONDON, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Pfizer ( PFE ) and Moderna's ( MRNA ) legal

battle over their rival COVID-19 vaccines will continue after

London's High Court on Wednesday gave Pfizer ( PFE ) permission to take

the case to the Court of Appeal.

Pfizer ( PFE ) and its German partner BioNTech

sued Moderna ( MRNA ) in London in September 2022, seeking to

revoke two patents held by Moderna ( MRNA ), which hit back days later

alleging its own patents had been infringed.

The High Court gave a mixed ruling in July, ruling that one

of Moderna's ( MRNA ) two patents relating to the messenger RNA (mRNA)

technology that underpinned its COVID-19 vaccine was invalid.

But the court ruled another similar patent was valid and

that Pfizer ( PFE ) and BioNTech's Comirnaty vaccine had infringed it,

meaning Moderna ( MRNA ) is entitled to damages in relation to sales

after March 2022.

Judge Richard Meade gave Pfizer ( PFE ) and BioNTech permission to

appeal against that decision on Wednesday. The issue of any

damages owed to Moderna ( MRNA ) is on hold pending their appeal.

Moderna ( MRNA ) was refused permission to appeal in relation to its

patent which was found to be invalid, but the company can still

apply directly to the Court of Appeal.

The London lawsuits are just one leg of a global battle

between Pfizer ( PFE ), BioNTech and Moderna ( MRNA ), which have also been

involved in proceedings in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and

the United States, as well as at the European Patent Office.