RNA Supply Chain Articles

  1. "Mirror, Mirror…": Reflections On Reducing mRNA Production COGS 4/21/2025

    Here, I outline three overarching words of wisdom I gleaned from Life Edit Therapeutics’ April Sena; Tune Therapeutics’ Tyler Goodwin; and University of Sheffield’s Adi on how the mRNA/RNA industry can better control production costs — particularly as it relates to raw material sourcing and usage.  

  2. Innovations In The Oligonucleotide Supply Chain: Regulatory Considerations For Materials, Manufacturing, And Lifecycle Control 1/30/2026

    Oligonucleotide therapeutics have rapidly advanced into late-stage and commercial development, shifting regulatory focus toward the maturity of manufacturing and supply chain control rather than therapeutic novelty. Regulatory success now depends on how effectively sponsors translate innovative chemistries into well-characterized, scalable, and sustainable materials and processes.

  3. The mRNA Supply Chain Revolution: Materials, Methods, And Momentum 1/30/2026

    mRNA innovation now hinges as much on manufacturing materials as on molecular design, with novel inputs shaping performance, cost, and scalability. As these less-mature materials move rapidly into production, strategic material selection and supplier alignment are becoming critical to manufacturing resilience and long-term success.

  4. Sourcing Plasmid DNA From CDMOs Got More Challenging — Here's Why 11/19/2024

    The demand for plasmid DNA products is intrinsically linked to unique market conditions and funding environments. Here's what's driving them.

  5. Inside Alnylam's Playbook For High Volume siRNA Production 3/10/2026

    As one of the first companies to establish a chemoenzymatic ligation platform, Alnylam's Maines and Nechev are in the perfect position to espouse wisdom on the practical aspects and remaining challenges of implementing enzymatic ligation at a large scale. Here in this installment, Maines and Nechev outline what they’ve learned thus far about the science of enzymatic ligation, while also paying credence to the unknowns and existing barriers that, as a frontrunner, Alnylam will inevitably (but willingly) be tasked with facing in the future.

  6. FDA Sets Recommendations For Predicting Dangerous Nitrosamine Impurities 10/25/2023

    The FDA recently published a final guidance that sets a recommended framework for predicting the potential of nitrosamine drug substance-related impurities.

  7. The Price Is… Almost Right: mRNA Edition! COGS Reduction Strategies 8/28/2025

    The following article will outline the current state of COGS in the mRNA industry and the work he and his colleagues undertook to more effectively utilize raw materials. But heaven forbid this be your normal conference panel write-up. No, below I share Parrella’s insights, but in the form of a never-before released episode of The Price is Right…or perhaps more fittingly given the state of the industry today, this spectacle is more aptly titled: The Price is…Sort Of, Almost, Not Quite Right! 

  8. What Violin Making Can Teach Us About mRNA Therapeutic Quality 8/8/2022

    Managing the mRNA supply chain and working in mRNA process development may not look anything like the work a luthier does to hew an instrument from an ancient spruce tree. But violin craftmanship actually serves as a fantastic metaphor for the challenging work the mRNA therapeutics space is tackling in sourcing and qualifying raw materials and optimizing the critical IVT reaction.

  9. Assessing Quality Of mRNA Vaccines: Key Considerations 10/12/2022

    To address the need for standards for mRNA vaccines, the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) has convened vaccine experts to identify important quality attributes and to propose test methods that can be used to assess mRNA vaccine products. This article shares those CQAs and analytical procedure tips.

  10. A "Hot Take" on Personalized mRNA Medicines 6/20/2024

    mRNA’s small-scale and cell-free production are often-touted benefits in the personalized medicines sphere. But as I reviewed my notes from the BioPhorum ATMP member event, I found myself coming face to face with a difficult truth.