Development of new manufacturing processes for ionizable lipids and building blocks for same

In 2022, over 4.5 billion doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech and the Moderna COVID-19 vaccines were produced to combat a devastating pandemic. The above vaccines contain messenger RNA (“mRNA”) trapped inside lipid nanoparticles (“LNPs”), which are globules with a diameter of a few billionths of a meter, composed of fatty substances called lipids. A crucial type of lipid that is essential for the proper functioning of RNA-LNP medications is an “ionizable lipid” (IL): one that, once inside a living cell, can switch between an electrostatically neutral state and a charged one. The search for new, efficacious ILs is key to unlocking the potential of RNA therapies to treat a huge number of human diseases that currently are incurable. NanoVation Therapeutics, Inc. owns technology for the rapid preparation and evaluation of such ILs. This proposal aims to devise new practical, economical manufacturing methods for the building blocks of said ILs, as well as to produce quantities of benchmark ILs against which the efficacy of new ILs is evaluated. The methods thus developed are essential to unleash the full potential of RNA medicines well beyond the vaccine sphere.

Faculty Supervisor:

Glenn Sammis

Student:

Partner:

NanoVation Therapeutics Inc.;Resilience Biosciences Inc.

Discipline:

Physics

Sector:

Manufacturing; Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

The University of British Columbia

Program: