President Joe Biden’s decision to block Nippon Steel’s bid to buy U.S. Steel could have significant implications for Pennsylvania and the steel industry.

President-elect Donald Trump had already said he would kill the deal when he takes office later this month to keep a foreign firm from taking over the Pittsburgh-based business.

U.S. Steel employs thousands across its plants and offices in Pennsylvania and the state has about 10% of the nation’s steelworkers.

For them, Biden’s intervention could mean short-term job stability, as the administration emphasizes keeping the company under American ownership. 

But, it’s not a fix for U.S. Steel’s problems; the company has said it needs financial resources to upgrade plants and keep pace with demand for steel around the world.

Biden on Friday issued the order blocking Nippon Steel Corp.’s proposed $14.9 billion purchase of U.S. Steel, citing his presidential authority under the Defense Production Act of 1950 and calling the steel industry “critical for resilient supply chains.”

Nippon and U.S. Steel, however, took exception to the order.

In a joint statement, U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel said it was “dismayed” by Biden’s decision, calling it “a clear violation of due process and the law governing CFIUS.” 

The companies said blocking the sale will deny billions of dollars in investments planned in the U.S. and vowed to take “all appropriate action to protect our legal rights.”

(This story was updated to add new information.)

Penn Medicine researchers Katalin Karikó Ph.D., and Dr. Drew Weisman Ph.D., won the 2023 Nobel Prize in Medicine for their work on mRNA technology that contributed to the COVID-19 vaccine research.

Patents typically last about 20 years. The university holds at least four patents for its mRNA technology across the United States and Europe.

Researcher Karikó, an adjunct professor at Penn Medicine for 36 years, worked as a senior vice president for BioNTech between November 2013 and October 2022, according to her LinkedIn profile. She is considered an external consultant for the company as of Jan. 2, according to its website.

The COVID-19 vaccine, also known as Comirnaty, generated about $5 billion in sales in 2024.

As part of the deal, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer is expected to chip in $170 million for the Penn royalties and $364 million towards the NIH royalties owed.

As a company, BioNTech generated about $3.9 billion in revenue during 2023, down from $17.7 billion in 2022. BioNTech estimated 2024 revenue to be between $2.7 billion and $3.3 billion.

The university licensed its mRNA patents to several companies between April 2010 and August 2020, including Epicentre Technologies Corp., mRNA Biotherapeutics Inc. and Cellscript.

In 2017, BioNTech sublicensed the university mRNA technology from Cellscript and expects to keep developing more pharmaceutical medications, such as cancer treatments and flu vaccines, using the university patented technology.

Licensing revenue at the University of Pennsylvania has been a substantial revenue stream for the Philadelphia institution since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

In fiscal 2021, the university collected $300 million in license revenue. In fiscal years 2022 and 2023, the university garnered $1 billion each year. During fiscal year 2024, it reported $466 million in licensing revenue.

In May 2024, Penn Medicine researchers developed an mRNA vaccine for the H5N1 avian flu, leveraging prior COVID-19 vaccine research. The research was funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health and the Department of Health and Human Services.

The Duke University Human Vaccine Institute was awarded $7 million from the federal health agencies to conduct clinical trials in early 2025.

But for the commercialization of such research, the university relies on pharmaceutical manufacturers to license such patents and take the drug to market.

It was not immediately clear which companies, if any, have licensed the experimental avian flu technology.