Design and synthesis of well-defined sphingomyelins by a modular, divergent strategy

In 2021, over 2.2 billion doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines were produced to combat a truly devastating pandemic. Such medications represent the fastest vaccines ever to be developed, with some of the highest efficiencies reported. The above vaccines contain messenger RNA (“mRNA”) trapped inside lipid nanoparticles (“LNPs”), which are globules composed of fatty substances and possessing a diameter of a few billionths of a meter. The fatty material in such LNPs includes a number of greasy compounds called lipids. The technology that enabled the creation of these life-saving medicines was developed through principles that constitute the focus of this application. The same technology can be harnessed to treat many diseases that are currently incurable.
One type of fatty agents that are essential for the proper functioning of RNA-LNP medications are “helper lipids,” among which the so-called “sphingomyelins” occupy a privileged position. Small quantities of sphingomyelins can be extracted from animal sources. However, this is biologically unsafe, to the point that pharmaceutical preparations avoid all animal-derived products. Furthermore, materials extracted from animal sources are mixtures of compounds, whereas medicines must contain well-defined, chemically pure sphingomyelins. This proposal aims to devise a practical, economical synthesis of sphingomyelins.

Faculty Supervisor:

Glenn Sammis

Student:

Partner:

NanoVation Therapeutics Inc.;Resilience Biosciences Inc.;Vancouver General Hospital

Discipline:

Physics

Sector:

Manufacturing; Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

The University of British Columbia

Program: