A former RACGP presidential candidate must pay legal costs to Pfizer and Moderna after losing a court case arguing that their COVID-19 vaccines were unlicensed genetically modified organisms. 

The Federal Court of Australia dismissed Dr Julian Fidge’s legal bid last week as “misguided” and “an abuse of process” that had no “reasonable prospect of success”.

Dr Fidge argued the vaccines were unlawful because Pfizer and Moderna had failed to register them as genetically modified organisms (GMOs) with the Federal Government’s Office of the Gene Technology Regulator. 

While some vaccines are registered as GMOs — like the live cholera vaccine Vaxchora — the regulator told the court that Comirnaty and Spikevax were not GMOs.