Moderna has agreed to pay up to $2.25 billion to settle a long-running legal dispute with Arbutus Biopharma and Genevant Sciences, a subsidiary of Roivant. This dispute was about the technology used in Moderna’s mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. Moderna will pay $950 million right away and might have to pay an additional $1.3 billion later, depending on a court decision. After this payment, Moderna won’t have to pay any more money based on future sales of its mRNA vaccines. This settlement happened just before a trial was supposed to start in Delaware. Arbutus and Genevant were asking for about $5 billion, but Moderna will pay much less. After this news, Moderna’s stock price went up by 9%. Moderna became well-known for quickly creating one of the first COVID-19 vaccines, which made a lot of money for the company. However, Moderna has also been involved in several legal fights about who owns the patents for different parts of the vaccine technology. This particular dispute is about the fatty shells, or ‘lipid nanoparticles,’ that Moderna uses to deliver mRNA into cells. These were developed by other companies, including Arbutus, and are an important part of Moderna’s vaccines. Roivant, which owns Genevant and has a stake in Arbutus, said the settlement makes Moderna responsible for using their technology without permission. As part of the deal, Moderna gets a license to use Genevant’s technology for certain infectious disease vaccines. The CEO of Genevant, James Heyes, said it’s satisfying to finally be recognized for their important role in helping the world during the pandemic. This settlement is also good for Moderna. The company has been having financial problems due to a drop in COVID vaccine sales and not much income from another vaccine they developed. A larger settlement payment plus ongoing royalties would have made their financial situation even worse. The increase in Moderna’s stock price shows that investors are relieved that they avoided a worse financial outcome. Analysts also noted that Moderna is now well-funded for important test results expected this year, which are crucial for the company’s growth. Moderna expects to have between $4.5 billion and $5 billion in cash by the end of the year. Arbutus and Genevant also have a separate lawsuit against Pfizer and BioNTech, the makers of another mRNA COVID-19 vaccine.