Consolidating The Supply Chain For mRNA

For the biopharmaceutical industry, mRNA vaccines have emerged as a pivotal area of interest. Despite the current buzz surrounding mRNA technology as a platform for delivering vaccines and therapeutics, it's important to note that this is not a recent innovation. mRNA technology has been in existence since the 1960s, but we have only witnessed the first approvals recently. The validation of mRNA's efficacy and efficiency came with the successful development of COVID-19 vaccines.

Biopharmaceutical companies are now exploring the application of mRNA technology within smaller patient populations, such as oncology and various infectious diseases. As the focus of the biopharmaceutical industry shifts towards mRNA, many innovator companies are seeking out CDMOs with the proper expertise and capabilities. However, full-service CDMOs capable of supporting the development of mRNA vaccines are scarce. In addition to a shortage of CDMOs equipped with end-to-end GMP mRNA capabilities, this demand has revealed inadequate and inefficient supply chain options for sourcing GMP mRNA. To address this need, Cytiva has developed the first complete cGMP facility for mRNA manufacturing.