Fierce Advocates
In presenting this gift of Samurai armor to Marshall, Gerstein & Borun LLP, a grateful client explained that he chose the gift because Marshall Gerstein’s team of trial lawyers had “represented him as loyally and fiercely as any Samurai warrior.” Also, he added, he feared he could not have carried an actual Samurai sword through the building security.
Our client, a pioneer in reconstructive surgery, invented a revolutionary device known as a differential tissue expander. This balloon-like device, when implanted beneath the skin and inflated in stages over time, permitted a surgeon to expand a patient’s skin—in fact prompting the body to grow new tissue—for use in reconstructing adjacent wounds or defects. The invention, for the first time, permitted surgeons to tailor this skin expansion to more easily perform truly anatomic surgical reconstructions.
A professor of surgery who had devoted his career to academic medicine, the client faced the deliberate infringement of his patent by one of the largest manufacturers of these silicone devices. Despite relentless assaults by the defendant and its expansive team of attorneys, we did not waver, shrink or give ground. Through such tenacity, we successfully achieved a highly favorable result for the client.
Whether our client is an individual or corporation, patentee or defendant, we approach each engagement with the same commitment, the same fierce dedication, the same tenacity and the same focus and resolve which prompted this particular grateful client to liken us to Samurai warriors.
It’s in our Blood
Today, cancer patients around the world will get more out of life, thanks to a remarkable therapeutic drug used during chemotherapy to stimulate the production of red blood cells and combat the debilitating effects of anemia. In 1983, the startup company that cloned the gene for this medication turned to the Marshall Gerstein Biotechnology & Life Sciences team to help protect its discovery. Nearly thirty years later, the patent applications written by our attorneys have withstood not only the breath taking changes in the field of biotechnology, but challenges in courts and patent offices throughout the U.S., Europe and the Pacific Rim. The result? Our client enjoys the rewards of its creativity, while millions of individuals experience the benefits of better health.
Successful IP-Intensive Acquisition
Monopar Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative drug combinations to improve clinical outcomes in cancer patients, turned to Marshall Gerstein to assist with the acquisition of GPX-150, a broad spectrum Phase II Cancer drug candidate from Gem Pharmaceuticals. Marshall Gerstein’s attorneys, who also serve as Monopar’s IP prosecution counsel, structured the intellectual property contribution and assignment components for the IP-intensive acquisition. Our attorneys’ experience in both biopharmaceutical transactions and this specific technology, enabled us to efficiently and effectively identify and integrate key terms to address the full range of intellectual property critical to the deal, which ultimately led to a timely and successful acquisition.
Marshall Gerstein Counsels CureVac through Global Resolution of Patent Litigation with Pfizer/BioNTech
Marshall, Gerstein & Borun LLP represented CureVac, a global biopharmaceutical company developing a new class of transformative medicines based on mRNA, in a high-profile intellectual property infringement lawsuit originally filed in June 2022. The case involved allegations that Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 variant-adapted vaccines, including those targeting the Omicron and XBB1.5 variants, infringed CureVac’s patents, including European Patent EP4023755 relating to split poly-A tail mRNA vaccines.
In May 2023, CureVac filed counterclaims in the U.S. asserting infringement of nine U.S. patents, later expanded to include a tenth patent (U.S. Patent No. 11,667,910), covering mRNA purification methods — a critical component of the mRNA manufacturing process.
In August 2025, it was announced that BioNTech and CureVac reached a global resolution. Under the terms of the agreements, CureVac and GSK will receive in aggregate a payment of $740 million as well as single-digit royalties on sales of COVID-19 vaccines in the United States going forward. Additionally, CureVac will receive $50 million from GSK for monetizing a portion of U.S. product royalties due under its existing license agreement announced on July 3, 2024.
The resolution resolved all pending U.S. and European litigation, including what would have been the first U.S. trial over COVID-19 vaccine patents. It was one of the most-watched biotechnology patent disputes in recent years.
Partner Mark H. Izraelewicz led CureVac’s U.S. litigation strategy, alongside a team at Marshall Gerstein, which included Kevin M. Flowers, John R. Labbé, Michael R. Weiner, Sandip H. Patel, Michael J. Allikian, Thomas R. Burns, Izabella N.C. Higson, Daniel Gonzalez, and Christopher J. Hall.
For more coverage, see the following articles:
CureVac's Patent Settlement: A Strategic Win for mRNA Innovation and Future Revenue Streams
GSK collects $320M as BioNTech, Pfizer settle mRNA patent spat with CureVac | Fierce Pharma
