US pharmaceutical firm Moderna has filed lawsuits against US drug maker Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech for alleged patent infringements over a COVID-19 vaccine.

In a news release, Moderna said it filed the lawsuits on Friday in the United States and Germany. The statement said the vaccine jointly developed by Pfizer and BioNTech infringes patents Moderna filed between 2010 and 2016 covering its foundational mRNA technology.

Moderna claims the two firms copied what it calls the "groundbreaking technology," without its permission, to produce their vaccine.

Moderna says it is not seeking to remove the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine from the market nor asking for an injunction to prevent its future sale.

Multiple overseas media have quoted a Pfizer spokesperson as saying, "We are surprised by the litigation given the COVID-19 vaccine was based on BioNTech's proprietary mRNA technology and developed by both BioNTech and Pfizer."