And so, another working week will soon draw to a close. Not a moment too soon, yes? This is, you may recall, our treasured signal to daydream about weekend plans. For now, our agenda is rather modest, since we are planning to shuttle our short person back to an institution of higher learning and sort out sundry chores on the Pharmalot campus. And what about you? Holiday time is here, which means beaches, lakes, and mountains are beckoning. This may also be an opportunity to reach out to someone special. Or simply take stock of life, such as it is. Well, whatever you do, have a grand time. But be safe. Enjoy, and see you after Labor Day …
Moderna is suing Pfizer and its partner, BioNTech, for patent infringement in the development of the first Covid-19 vaccine approved in the U.S., alleging they copied technology that Moderna developed years before the pandemic, Reuters writes. Moderna, on its own, and the partnership of Pfizer and BioNTech were two of the first groups to develop a vaccine for the novel coronavirus. Moderna alleges Pfizer and BioNTech, without permission, copied mRNA technology that Moderna had patented between 2010 and 2016, well before Covid-19 emerged in 2019. Pfizer and BioNTech already face multiple lawsuits from other companies who claim their vaccine infringes on patents.
The White House directed health and science agencies to make federally funded studies immediately available to the public after publication, a move that open-access advocates have long pressed for but one that threatens to upend the business models of scientific journals, STAT says. The guidance ushers in a sea change in the publishing industry, which currently places many federally funded research papers behind a paywall for 12 months. The publishing lobby has argued doing so could spell the demise of scientific journals reliant on significant subscription fees to access embargoed papers.
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