TriLink BioTechnologies partners with Imperial College London to produce saRNA for COVID-19 vaccine development
9 Jun 2020
TriLink BioTechnologies®, a Maravai LifeSciences company and a leader in the production of nucleic acids for research, diagnostics and therapeutics applications, and Imperial College London, a public research university located in the United Kingdom, have entered into a partnership in which TriLink will manufacture self-amplifying RNA (saRNA) for COVID-19 vaccine development. The vaccine development program is led by Professor Robin Shattock, Head of Mucosal Infection and Immunity within the Department of Infectious Disease at Imperial.
Under this development partnership, TriLink will use its robust RNA manufacturing capabilities to respond to the global need for vaccine support against COVID-19. TriLink is a pioneering manufacturer of GMP RNA (mRNA and saRNA) and can scale production from research to clinical development, allowing for efficient RNA production from a single source.
“As pioneering manufacturers of GMP-grade mRNA, TriLink is committed to working alongside our partners to rapidly respond and prioritize the development of a COVID-19 vaccine,” commented Carl Hull, CEO of Maravai LifeSciences. “The health and safety of the global population is the basis of the collaboration with Imperial College London. The opportunity to bring accelerated RNA manufacturing to vaccine development for this global crisis is deeply engrained in our mission to bring the miracles of science to life.”
“We are committed to the rapid development of our saRNA vaccine against COVID-19,” commented Prof. Robin Shattock. “Our partnership with TriLink is critical to this process and ensures our ability to rapidly move our vaccine into clinical testing. The significant dose sparing nature of saRNA provides capability to rapidly scale the manufacture to millions of doses. We are driven to contribute to the global effort to develop and scale prophylactic vaccines capable of impacting on this pandemic.”
The vaccine development by Imperial through Prof. Shattock is focused on the urgent COVID-19 response, and TriLink is poised to deliver saRNA manufacturing capabilities up to a Phase II scale. TriLink has also been awarded an additional partnership with Imperial for the development of two additional virus targets — Marburg and Rabies.