A patent related skirmish can often prove to be a big boost to the stocks of pharmaceutical companies and that is what seemed to have happened with the Arbutus Biopharma (NASDAQ:ABUS) stock on Thursday.
Apparent Patent Fight Win With Moderna
Yesterday, the Arburtus stock ended the day with gains of as much as 15% following considerable speculation with regards to the fact that the company won a patent fight against Moderna. It further emerged that the company was all set to get a new patent and once that patent is awarded, Arburtus could be entitled to royalties from the sales of Moderna’s COVID 19 vaccines.
In this regard, it should be noted that back on September 2, the website of the United States Patent and Trademark Office displayed that the company had been awarded a notice of allowance for a specific patent. That particular patent was in relation to a novel lipid formulation meant for delivery of nucleic acid.
While the optimism among investors with regards to this patent is understandable, it is also necessary to point out that Moderna has come across similar patent challenges in the past and tackled with them successfully. It might be a good idea to be a bit more cautious about the Arburtus stock at this point.
