Indian Scientist, Mihir Metkar Is Recognized As The First-Named Inventor Of Moderna’s Vaccine
An Indian researcher has been identified as the primary contributor to Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine.
When the firm filed a patent application for its breakthrough RNA technique mediated Covid-19 vaccine, Mihir Metkar, a bioinformatics researcher from Pune was listed as the ‘first-named inventor’, which is generally a term given to the main contributor of the invention.
He is additionally included in the inventor list of Moderna’s 2 other patent applications for the Covid-19 vaccine filed to the Patent Office in the US.
Moderna’s new vaccines employ mRNA (messenger RNA) that produces proteins similar to that of the coronavirus and activates the immune system of the body to produce antibodies to prevent invasion of coronavirus. Traditional vaccines employ either altered gene forms of another virus or parts of the virus or dead viruses.
Recognition of Metkar as the first-named inventor is included in Moderna’s document submitted to dispute the assertion of NIH (National Institutes of Health) under the US government which stated that its researchers must also be identified as the vaccine inventors. Moderna’s vaccine was developed together with NIH and with the financial assistance of $1.53 billion by
Donald Trump’s administration (The former president of the US) on behalf of the OWS (Operation Warp Speed) program to rapidly manufacture vaccines.Guillaume Stewart-Jones and Vladimir Presnyak are mentioned after Metkar in Moderna’s original patent application.
Based on Metkar’s LinkedIn profile, he obtained his master’s from SPPU’s (Savitribai Phule Pune University) IBB (Institute of Bioinformatics & Biotechnology) and was employed as a project assistant at Pune’s IISER (Indian Institute of Science Education and Research) before reaching the US.
The profile outlined that he completed his doctorate from UMass Chan Medical School’s RNA Therapeutics Institute and was employed there as a post-doctoral fellow, prior to joining Moderna in the year 2018.
In another document, Moderna mentioned another inventor of the Betacoronavirus vaccine, Sunny Himansu, an MBBS-degree holder.
Moderna’s vaccine is one among the 2 primary US vaccines and around 164 million doses of Moderna’s vaccine have been used so far in America, based on the report by CDC (Centers for Disease Control).
Apart from that, several people have been vaccinated with Moderna’s vaccine in Europe and many other places.
Pfizer-BioNTech is the other primary vaccine employed in the US. This was manufactured in Germany and employs mRNA.
J7J’s (Johnson & Johnson) vaccines are also employed in the US. The firm responsible for the development of this vaccine is Jansen Pharmaceutical, J&J, whose international R&D (Research & Development) head is Mathai Mammen.
The patent document listing Metkar was submitted by an IP (Intellectual Property) law firm on behalf of Moderna. It claimed that 3 NIH researchers who worked with Moderna must not be identified as co-inventors.
If researchers from NIH are given Moderna vaccine patent rights, the US government and NIH might be entitled to get a share of royalties with the patent rights and additionally would be capable of making vaccines with others.
Public Citizen, an NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) has emphasized in a letter to the NIH’s head that patent co-ownership allows the government of the US to authorize other firms anywhere in the world to produce the vaccine using some of the patents.
The organization mentioned that with large gaps in worldwide access to vaccines, the government will push more to get vaccine technology ownership.
Primary Contributor To Moderna’s Vaccine, Moderna Vaccine Patent Rights
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