Thermo Fisher has introduced a customized Dynabeads solutions, which it says supports mRNA for manufacturing and vaccine development.

Millie Nelson, Editor

October 4, 2022

2 Min Read
Thermo Fisher launches Dynabeads tech to support mRNA production
DepositPhotos/ kchungtw

Thermo Fisher Scientific has introduced a customized Dynabeads solutions, which it says supports synthesis and purification of mRNA for manufacturing and vaccine development.

According to the firm, the Dynabeads Streptavidin for in vitro transcription and Dynabeads for carboxylic acid for RNA purification solutions can support messenger RNA (mRNA) synthesis and purification for vaccine development and production.

Furthermore, Thermo Fisher says that when combined with its TheraPure portfolio of enzymes and nucleotides, it provides a simplified workflow that allows mRNA firms to accelerate from clinical stages through to commercialization.

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DepositPhotos/ kchungtw

“The ability to produce mRNA from a segment of DNA in the laboratory, a process known as in vitro transcription (IVT), has been used in different life science research applications,” Marie Bosnes, senior staff scientist, sample preparation at Thermo Fisher Scientific told BioProcess Insider.

“Our magnetic beads simplify this process and provide a solution for scalable development of mRNA vaccines and therapeutics in a cost-effective way. The beads work by holding onto the DNA segment (or template) where mRNA synthesis takes place. When mRNA synthesis is completed, the DNA coupled magnetic beads are efficiently pulled out of the reaction mixture by applying a magnet and can be reused (at least six times) in the next cycles of mRNA synthesis.”

Bosnes said that one of the advantages of this method over other options available in the industry is that it “enables much smaller manufacturing footprint for high mRNA production. Only 50 microliters PCR product is enough to produce 10-60 milligram of mRNA.”

Customer Advantages

Thermo Fisher told us that it anticipates the technology to be fully implemented in laboratories that are undertaking vaccine discovery. In particular, in labs that “screen a lot of DNA constructs in parallel.”

In doing so, the company claims that its customers will be able to manufacture mRNA vaccines and therapeutics more quickly and at a cheaper price. Bosnes outlined the advantages to this publication below:

  • Flexibility—choice of synthetic or plasmid DNA template for mRNA IVT for greater flexibility of mRNA design

  • Efficiency—reuse of the DNA template at least six times, minimizing plasmid prep and reducing hands-on time and risk of transfer of bacterial host DNA

  • Scalability—swapping from manual to fully automated workflow to match required scale

  • Minimized footprint—enabling modular manufacturing to cost-effectively match required scale (increase or decrease)

  • Support—platform designed for optimal product quality and regulatory support, including published data and technical support for vaccine development and manufacturing

  • Quality—ensuring a safe, flexible supply of magnetic beads for vaccine developers, from development to commercial manufacturing scale, without incurring extra time or costs from switching technology or raw materials

About the Author(s)

Millie Nelson

Editor, BioProcess Insider

Journalist covering global biopharmaceutical manufacturing and processing news and host of the Voices of Biotech podcast.

I am currently living and working in London but I grew up in Lincolnshire (UK) and studied in Newcastle (UK).

Got a story? Feel free to email me at [email protected]

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