Moderna is suing Pfizer and BioNTech for infringing patents central to Moderna's mRNA technology platform used to develop the COVID vaccine, the company said in a press release Friday.

A widely-distributed vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, Comirnaty, allegedly infringed on patents claimed by Moderna used in mRNA technology vital to the vaccine's creation and manufacturing.

"We are filing these lawsuits to protect the innovative mRNA technology platform that we pioneered, invested billions of dollars in creating, and patented during the decade preceding the COVID-19 pandemic," Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said in a statement.

"This foundational platform, which we began building in 2010, along with our patented work on coronaviruses in 2015 and 2016, enabled us to produce a safe and highly effective COVID-19 vaccine in record time after the pandemic struck," he added. "As we work to combat health challenges moving forward, Moderna is using our mRNA technology platform to develop medicines that could treat and prevent infectious diseases like influenza and HIV, as well as autoimmune and cardiovascular diseases and rare forms of cancer."

Moderna had originally vowed in 2020 to forego enforcement of patent infringement amid the height of the pandemic, but says the pandemic has "entered a new phase" where the vaccine supply was "no longer a barrier."