SK Bioscience Wins Appeal in Patent Dispute with Pfizer Over Pneumococcal Vaccine

SK Bioscience has prevailed in an appellate court ruling against Pfizer’s subsidiary, Wyeth LLC. (Image courtesy of SK Bioscience)

SEOUL, Dec. 4 (Korea Bizwire) – SK Bioscience has prevailed in an appellate court ruling against Pfizer’s subsidiary, Wyeth LLC, in a patent infringement lawsuit concerning the export of pneumococcal vaccine components to Russia.

The Patent Court of Korea overturned a lower court decision, ruling that SK Bioscience’s supply of the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) raw material for research purposes did not violate a prior settlement agreement with Pfizer. 

The dispute dates back to SK Bioscience’s 2016 approval for its PCV13 vaccine, SkyNemo Prefilled Syringe, which led Pfizer to file a lawsuit alleging patent infringement related to its vaccine, Prevnar 13. After losing in South Korea’s Supreme Court in 2018, SK Bioscience agreed not to produce or sell PCV13 vaccines domestically until 2027. 

However, SK Bioscience later exported vaccine raw materials to a Russian pharmaceutical company for clinical and analytical research, prompting Pfizer to claim the export violated the settlement. The appellate court disagreed, ruling that providing raw materials for research purposes did not infringe upon Pfizer’s patent rights. 

The decision is expected to impact an ongoing investigation by South Korea’s Trade Commission, which earlier issued a corrective order against SK Bioscience over alleged unfair trade practices. The company has challenged the order in administrative court. 

In a statement, SK Bioscience welcomed the ruling, calling it a “necessary step to curb the misuse of patent litigation by global pharmaceutical companies” and expressed hope for enhanced legal frameworks to protect domestic bio-tech innovations.

Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)