European Patent EP2510099B1, listing Karikó as inventor, was granted by the EPO for mRNA technologies.
On January 11, 2017, the European Patent Office granted European Patent EP2510099B1, one of the first European patents naming Katalin Karikó as an inventor for mRNA-related technology.
This grant extended the geographic reach of Karikó and Weissman's foundational nucleoside-modification discoveries beyond the United States into the European market, an essential step for the eventual global licensing and deployment of mRNA vaccine platforms by European companies such as BioNTech.
The patent covered core aspects of the technology enabling reduced immunogenicity of synthetic mRNA, a critical innovation for any therapeutic or vaccine use of mRNA in humans. Its grant in Europe came at a time when Karikó had already relocated professionally to BioNTech in Mainz, Germany, positioning her discoveries at the heart of European biotechnology innovation.
This European patent later became part of the portfolio highlighted by the European Patent Office when it recognized Karikó with the European Inventor Award, underscoring how her patented inventions had begun to reshape vaccine science well before the COVID-19 pandemic brought global attention to mRNA technology.