Vaccine partnership results in optimized mRNA process, says BioNet

BioNet’s product development of genetic vaccine know-how integrated with BIA’s chromatographic columns for mRNA purification has produced a high-yield mRNA process, says firm.

BioNet is a French-Thai biotech firm that focuses on manufacturing genetically engineered vaccines and BIA Separations is a biochromatography development and manufacturing company, which Sartorius acquired in October 2020 for $423 million.

The collaboration, which was formed in early 2021, has resulted in what the firms are calling a successful development of an optimized messenger RNA (mRNA) production process.

Image: Stock Photo Secrets

Hong Thai Pham, CEO of BioNet told BioProcess Insider the advantages of this process compared to others in the industry is that its “high-yield, reproducible, scalable, and fast.”

He continued: “The whole process lasts a few days. A one-time plasmid DNA (pDNA) production campaign can be used for producing million doses of purified mRNA.”

According to both firms, the optimized process has been successfully applied to the manufacture of mRNA in the fight against COVID-19. The mRNA vaccine, Chula-Cov19, which is produced at BioNet’s manufacturing facility in Thailand and developed by the Chula Vaccine Research Center, Thailand in collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania, US.

Chula-Cov19 is expected to enter Phase II/III trials soon.

Both BioNet and BIA are now working together on other universal coronavirus and pan-COVID-19 vaccine projects aiming to increase development capabilities and production capacity of nucleic acid vaccines in Australia, Europe, and low-middle income countries.