Arbutus patent revoked by European Patent Office board

The Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office revoked Arbutus Biopharma Corporation's (NASDAQ: ABUS) European patent EP 2279254 on January 15, 2026. The verbal decision was issued without stated reasons in response to opposition notices filed by affiliates of Moderna Therapeutics Inc. and Merck Sharp & Dohme Corporation in April 2018.

The ruling overturned two prior decisions by the EPO's Opposition Division that had upheld an amended version of the patent. Arbutus stated it disagrees with the outcome and plans to file a petition for review by the Enlarged Board of Appeal upon receiving the written decision expected in the coming months.

The decision affects litigation brought by Arbutus and its licensee Genevant Sciences GmbH against Moderna in Switzerland and one case in the Unified Patent Court where the revoked patent was asserted. The company said the ruling was based on an EPO "added matter" standard that does not apply in the United States or other jurisdictions where it has filed patent infringement cases.

Arbutus stated the decision is not expected to impact its pending patent litigation against Moderna in the United States, Japan or Canada, another Unified Patent Court case not involving the revoked patent, or its patent infringement litigation against Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE in the United States.

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