COVID-19 vaccine maker Moderna is suing Pfizer and the German drugmaker BioNTech, accusing its main competitors of copying Moderna�s technology in order to make their own vaccine.

Moderna said Friday that Pfizer and BioNTech�s vaccine Comirnaty infringes on patents Moderna filed several years ago protecting the technology behind its preventive shot, Spikevax. The company filed patent infringement lawsuits in both U.S. federal court and a German court.

A Pfizer spokeswoman declined to comment, saying the company had not been served with a copy of the litigation.

Moderna and Pfizer�s two-shot vaccines both use mRNA technology to help patients fight the coronavirus.

The mRNA vaccines work by injecting a genetic code for the spike protein that coats the surface of the coronavirus. That code, the mRNA, is encased in a little ball of fat, and instructs the body�s cells to make some harmless spike copies that train the immune system to recognize the real virus.

Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said in a prepared statement that the vaccine developer pioneered that technology and invested billions of dollars in creating it.

The company said it believes its rivals� vaccine infringes on patents Moderna filed between 2010 and 2016.

(AP)