BioNTech, which partnered with U.S. pharma giant Pfizer for its COVID-19 vaccine, 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.
BioNTech has taken the license for certain patents from the NIH, among other entities, due to which the U.S. government is owed certain royalty payments, according to the German company's annual report.
The German government had granted BioNTech 375 million euros ($445 million) for its COVID-19 vaccine development program in September 2020.
(Reporting by Leroy Leo in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)
