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This story was originally published on BioPharma Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily BioPharma Dive newsletter. <\/i><\/p>\n Moderna has agreed to pay up to $2.25 billion to Arbutus Biopharma and Roivant subsidiary Genevant Sciences in a settlement that ends a longstanding legal dispute over technology used in its mRNA vaccines.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n In a statement Tuesday, Moderna said it will make an upfront payment of $950 million in the third quarter of this year while appealing another $1.3 billion in possible payouts to a federal circuit court. Moderna won\u2019t have to pay future royalties on sales of its mRNA vaccines following the initial lump sum payment.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n The settlement comes just days before the scheduled start of a jury trial in Delaware and leaves Moderna liable for far less than the roughly $5 billion Arbutus and Genevant had been seeking. Moderna shares rose 9% in early trading Wednesday.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Moderna rose to prominence by quickly bringing to market one of the world\u2019s first COVID vaccines, a shot that brought in billions dollars in revenue and made the company a household name.\u00a0But along the way, Moderna also found itself immersed in multiple legal fights, with spats erupting among several players asserting ownership of patents covering different aspects of the technology.<\/p>\n The dispute with Arbutus and Genevant centers around the fatty shells, or \u201clipid nanoparticles,\u201d Moderna uses to deliver mRNA into cells. These LNPs were pioneered by other companies, including Arbutus, and are a critical component of Moderna\u2019s shots.<\/p>\n In its own announcement, Roivant\u00a0\u2014 which in addition to owning Genevant holds a stake in Arbutus \u2014 said the settlement \u201cholds Moderna accountable for infringement,\u201d while offering the company a non-exclusive license to Genevant\u2019s LNP technology for certain infectious disease vaccines.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is enormously gratifying for the Genevant team to, at long last, be recognized for our pivotal contribution to restoring normalcy around the world in the face of a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic,\u201d Genevant\u2019s CEO James Heyes said in the statement.<\/p>\n Yet the deal was also a win for Moderna. The company has been under financial stress for multiple years following a decline in COVID vaccine sales and minimal contributions from another shot it developed. A larger settlement payment, plus ongoing sales royalties, would\u2019ve left Moderna even more cash-strapped.<\/p>\n The spike in Moderna\u2019s share price, then,\u201creflects relief for a successful dodged bullet\u201d and avoiding a \u201cworst-case scenario,\u201d wrote Leerink Partners analyst Mani Foroohar. Investors were concerned about a deal that\u2019d \u201cpush the balance sheet into acute distress or burden out-year margins with a further royalty,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n William Blair analyst Myles Minter added in a separate note that the company is now well-funded through multiple late-stage oncology readouts expected this year. Those results are now critical growth drivers for Moderna, Minter added.<\/p>\n Moderna now expects to end the year with between $4.5 billion and $5 billion in cash and cash equivalents, and has access to up to $900 million under an existing credit facility.<\/p>\n Arbutus and Genevant also have an ongoing suit against Pfizer and BioNTech, the makers of another prominent mRNA vaccine for COVID.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n