eTheRNA Manufacturing introduces a lipid nanoparticle (LNP) formulation development and production service to support the discovery and early pre-clinical advancement of RNA-based therapeutics and vaccines.

According to the RNA technology firm, the LNP service uses eTheRNA’s lipid libraries and formulations to enable targeted delivery and tailored biodistribution solutions. Additionally, the service has been developed to allow customers to maximize the delivery of their RNA-products.

“This service can cover product needs for early research and development and can be further optimized and upscaled to the requirements for toxicological studies and later to GMP productions for clinical trials,” Bernard Sagaert COO at eTheRNA told BioProcess Insider.

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The firm claims that its LNP platform uses a range of messenger RNA (mRNA) and lipid mixing technologies, which can provide the industry with differentiated alternatives to the LNP formulations typically used.

The LNP service will cater for batches from small to mid-size “with a target for R&D supply, preclinical and clinical supply in both oncology as infectious disease and other potential indications,” said Sagaert.

Clinic and beyond

The company said it is seeing many of its clients seeking drug product delivery systems, which also fits with its three base pillars of RNA development. This includes RNA chemistry, formulation, and process technologies.

“We decided to extend our contract development and manufacturing activities into the formulation field,” Sagaert told us.

“In this way, we can offer the full scale of RNA product development from construct design, formulation design and the processes needed to manufacture the products, and help these customers bring their products to the clinic and beyond.”

Furthermore, eTheRNA says an issue with the administration of RNA as a therapeutic or a vaccine is the need to protect the RNA from enzymes in the human body.

“This protection is required until the RNA is delivered to the cells that need to absorb the RNA and express its activity. For that you need a ‘carrier’, which is a lipid nanoparticle that contains the RNA and that gets absorbed by the cells. Our offering is this overall knowhow and platform that includes our proprietary lipid, lipid nanoparticle and process technology to help customers develop their products,” Sagaert said.