Here's what the filings actually say about Moderna's value: it isn't mainly in any one mRNA sequence. It's in the chemistry that gets the sequence inside your cells. The 2025 grants make that explicit.
Recall the structure of an mRNA medicine: a message (the mRNA) and an envelope (lipid particles that deliver it). The message is easy to redesign for a new target. The envelope — the specific lipid compounds and how they're assembled — is the hard, defensible part. Moderna's patents concentrate there.
The grants are about the delivery compounds themselves. US12324859B2 and US12263248B2 both cover compounds and compositions for intracellular delivery of therapeutic agents — the lipid chemistry that ferries mRNA across the cell membrane.
Even the dosing and administration get patented. US12246030B2 covers methods for therapeutic administration of mRNA drugs — claims on how the medicine is given, not just what it is. That breadth is the point.
The crosswalk worth keeping: when you want to know where a platform company's moat really is, follow the grants. Moderna's 2025 patents don't cluster on sequences; they cluster on delivery chemistry and administration. That tells you the company expects competitors to be able to copy messages — and intends to defend the envelope.
It also reframes the platform debate. The bear case fixates on which products will sell. The patent record says the asset is the reusable delivery toolkit underneath all the products. Whether that converts to revenue is a separate fight — but the 2025 grants show exactly which ground the company is defending.