mRNA vaccine production from small to large scale
Göttingen, 30.3.2023
MBM ScienceBridge today announced the successful negotiation and execution of an exclusive worldwide commercialization agreement between Technical University (TU) Clausthal and Dillico SAS.
Scientists at the TU Clausthal, Institute for Separation and Process Technology and Dillico, a start-up company in France, have developed a new bioprocess technology that allows, for example, the production of mRNA vaccines and therapeutics on a small or large scale using the same plant.
Vaccines are one of the most important public health tools and play a vital role in the control of infectious diseases. Thanks to their precision, safe profile and flexible manufacturing, mRNA vaccines are emerging as a complementary tool to conventional vaccines. mRNA vaccines and therapeutics are being studied in the clinic for the treatment of a range of diseases, including cancer, HIV, influenza and even genetic disorders.
The manufacture of new vaccines is typically a long (up to 36 months), challenging and expensive process as there is no standard procedure. The use of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) compliant equipment, facilities and procedures is essential to deliver effective, accurate and consistent vaccines. In addition, prior to marketing approval, clinical trials must be conducted that do not require large quantities of the vaccine while still meeting all regulatory requirements. However, scaling up from small-scale to large-scale production is costly and difficult to implement.
New approaches to vaccine technology are therefore needed to reduce production costs and enable small and large scale GMP production in the same facility. The newly developed production technology will solve this problem, reducing production time and costs.
According to the contract negotiated under the leadership of MBM ScienceBridge, the joint invention will be exclusively commercialized by Dillico and TU Clausthal will receive appropriate financial compensation (revenue shares) from Dillico's commercial exploitation.