A further U.S. patent application on pseudouridine-containing RNA molecules and methods was filed by Karikó and Weissman.
On April 2, 2008, Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman filed a follow-on patent application further elaborating their pioneering work on pseudouridine-containing RNA molecules and the methods for producing them. This application would later be granted as U.S. Patent 8,748,089.
This filing broadened and strengthened the intellectual property protections surrounding their nucleoside-modification technique, covering additional methods and applications of modified mRNA beyond the initial 2005 filing.
The continued patenting effort reflected Karikó and Weissman's persistence in securing their discoveries even as they struggled to find commercial partners willing to invest in mRNA-based therapeutics. At the time, the biotechnology industry remained largely skeptical of mRNA's therapeutic potential, viewing it as unstable and difficult to deliver effectively in the body.
This 2008 filing, layered atop the earlier 2005 application, ultimately became part of a patent portfolio that would prove immensely valuable once mRNA vaccine technology was validated during the COVID-19 pandemic, generating licensing revenue and cementing Karikó's place as a foundational inventor in modern vaccinology.