With acquisitions integrated, Curia unveils mRNA offering

CDMO Curia is leveraging recent acquisitions to offer end-to-end messenger RNA (mRNA) services, saying COVID-19 vaccines essentially served as proof of concept for the new modality.

2021 was an eventful year for contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) Curia. Along with a rebrand from its AMRI heritage, the company acquired LakePharma and Integrity Bio and – having integrated the entities into its business – has now launched a full mRNA service for its customers.

“Curia has combined more than 30 years of experience in small-molecule organic chemistry, which has enabled us to meet the unique needs of mRNA lipid development with the new capabilities and expertise that Integrity Bio and LakePharma brought to Curia in 2021,” a spokesperson from the firm told BioProcess Insider.

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“We have moved quickly to integrate the new companies into Curia, enabling us to offer this comprehensive mRNA solution to our customers.”

The CDMO says the acquisitions, along with undisclosed ongoing investments in its sites to increase mRNA capacity and capabilities, allows it to offer customers discovery, process development and mRNA drug substance production, through large-scale lipid manufacturing, lipid nanoparticle (LNP) formulation and development for full-scale sterile fill-finish services.

According to the spokesperson, the recent success of Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna’s mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 has driven demand from firms looking for mRNA services.

“The COVID-19 vaccines essentially served as proof of concept for mRNA technology. Now our customers are exploring mRNA technology for a variety of therapeutic areas in early clinical studies. We are seeing increasing interest in both the development of vaccines and therapeutics from our customers.”

Related news: COVID-19 to shape mRNA vaccine and therapeutic sector for years to come

Curia is not alone in beefing up its mRNA services on the back of increased demand. Over the past 12 months, a number of fellow CDMOs have made a move into – or invested further in – the mRNA space, including: AGC Bio, Biotage, Aldevron, Samsung Biologics, and MilliporeSigma. The latter has just increased its stake in the sector further through the acquisition of Exelead for $780 million.