March 25 (Reuters) - BioNTech said on Monday the U.S. National Institutes of Health has sent a notice to the German company regarding default in the payment of royalties and other amounts related to its COVID-19 vaccine.

BioNTech's royalty payment dispute relates to its COVID-19 vaccine for which it partnered with U.S. pharma giant Pfizer .

The company, 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. (Reporting by Leroy Leo in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)