BioNTech Settles Royalties Dispute with NIH and University of Pennsylvania

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BioNTech has reached two separate settlement agreements to resolve royalty payment disputes over its COVID-19 vaccine. The German biotech company, in collaboration with Pfizer, said it will pay $791.5 million to the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) to address a default notice. Additionally, BioNTech will pay $467 million to the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) to settle a lawsuit alleging underpayment of royalties.

The agreements stem from the NIH’s and Penn’s claims to royalties linked to foundational patents used in the mRNA technology behind the COVID-19 vaccine. Pfizer, BioNTech’s partner in the vaccine’s development, has agreed to reimburse BioNTech for part of the settlement costs—up to $170 million for Penn’s royalties and $364.5 million for NIH royalties from 2020-2023 vaccine sales.

The settlements also involve amendments to BioNTech’s licensing agreements with both NIH and Penn, with BioNTech agreeing to pay a low single-digit percentage of its vaccine sales. The agreements also include provisions for future licensing to use NIH and Penn’s patents in combination products.

Neither party admitted liability in the settlements. NIH and Penn did not respond to requests for comment.

 

Duke Energy Seeks $1.1 Billion for Hurricane Response Costs

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Duke Energy, a major U.S. utility, has filed a proposal with the Florida Public Service Commission (FPSC) to recover approximately $1.1 billion in expenses incurred during its emergency response to hurricanes Debby, Helene, and Milton. The storms, which struck Duke’s service areas, caused significant damage to the company’s infrastructure, including transmission lines and power poles, leaving tens of thousands of customers without power.

The request comes as severe weather conditions have led utilities across the U.S. to incur higher operating and maintenance costs. Duke, which serves North and South Carolina, explained that the hurricane damage necessitated the deployment of hundreds of response crews, as well as substantial assistance from national and Canadian teams to restore power.

If the filing is approved, Duke estimates that residential customers’ monthly bills will rise by approximately $21 for every 1,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity used, starting in March 2025. These storm-related costs would be reflected on bills through the end of February 2026.

The filing follows similar requests from other utilities, such as NextEra Energy’s Florida Power & Light Company, which in October sought to recover nearly $1.2 billion in costs related to Hurricane Milton’s destruction.

 

Bezos’ Blue Origin Secures FAA License for First New Glenn Rocket Launch

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The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced on Friday that it has granted a commercial space launch license to Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ aerospace company, for its New Glenn rocket. This marks a significant milestone for Blue Origin as it enters a highly competitive sector, joining SpaceX and United Launch Alliance (ULA) in vying for national security space missions.

The New Glenn rocket, named after astronaut John Glenn, received a five-year license allowing orbital launches from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The rocket’s reusable first stage is designed to land on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean, showcasing a focus on sustainability similar to SpaceX’s Falcon 9.

The inaugural New Glenn mission will serve as a certification test for the U.S. Space Force, a prerequisite for launching national security satellites. Initially, the debut mission was slated to carry a pair of NASA spacecraft to Mars, but delays in New Glenn’s development led NASA to shift the payload to another rocket. Instead, the first mission will carry technology for Blue Origin’s Blue Ring program, which focuses on maneuverable spacecraft for the Department of Defense.

Blue Origin joins an industry dominated by SpaceX, which has successfully used its partially reusable Falcon 9 for numerous missions and is developing its fully reusable Starship rocket. SpaceX achieved a major milestone in October when Starship’s first-stage booster returned to its Texas launch pad during a flight test.

Blue Origin has faced challenges in bringing New Glenn to market. To accelerate progress, the company hired Amazon veteran Dave Limp in late 2022 to oversee the rocket’s development. The Pentagon’s selection of Blue Origin as one of the contenders for a $5.6 billion national security space program signals a vote of confidence in the company’s potential.

With this FAA approval, Blue Origin takes a critical step toward establishing itself as a competitor in the commercial and government launch markets.