Series A led by Oxford Science Enterprises and up to $20 million in public funding will move cell-based mRNA production toward clinical-grade scale.
Sensible Biotechnologies has raised $47 million to scale a platform that produces naturally modified messenger RNA (mRNA) inside engineered living cells rather than through synthetic reactions, and to develop clinical-grade manufacturing.1
The Oxford, England-based company said the financing combines a Series A led by Oxford Science Enterprises with up to $20 million in non-dilutive funding from the Government of Slovakia and the European Union. The company says limitations of synthetic production are one reason the therapeutic potential of mRNA remains largely unrealized.1
“mRNA transformed vaccines, but we believe its greatest potential lies in therapeutics,” said Miroslav Gasparek, CEO and co-founder of Sensible Biotechnologies. “The field still relies largely on synthetic manufacturing technology developed more than 40 years ago. We are taking a fundamentally different approach, using living cells to produce naturally modified mRNA while reducing the cost and supply-chain constraints of conventional production.
“With this financing, we can scale our platform and expand mRNA into therapeutic applications requiring high or repeated dosing that have historically been limited by cost.”1
The company’s VECTOR platform (Versatile Engine for Cell-based Therapeutic Optimisation of RNA) combines computational and artificial intelligence–enabled sequence design, high-throughput screening and proprietary engineered eukaryotic cells. A second technology, PromPT, captures and protects the mRNA inside cells before it is purified for therapeutic use.1
Sensible says this approach is designed to yield mRNA with reduced immunogenicity and high protein expression while avoiding double-stranded RNA contamination, a key source of unwanted immune activation.1
“How mRNA is made can shape how it behaves, so manufacturing matters from the very start of developing a treatment,” said Joel Schoppig, Partner at Oxford Science Enterprises and Board Member at Sensible.1
Conventional large-scale production relies on an in vitro reaction followed by a multistep purification platform that can include enzymatic digestion, precipitation, chromatography or tangential flow filtration. A 2021 review said rising demand requires cost-effective processes and examined the manufacturing bottlenecks that stand in the way.2
Impurities are a documented concern. A 2011 study found that contaminants, including double-stranded RNA, in nucleoside-modified in vitro–transcribed mRNA drove innate immune activation.
Removing them with high-performance liquid chromatography eliminated interferon and inflammatory cytokine induction and raised translation 10- to 1,000-fold in primary cells.3 Sensible’s stated aim is to avoid generating such contaminants rather than purify them out, while reducing reliance on specialized raw materials and manufacturing inputs.1
In external evaluations, Sensible said, its cell-made mRNA showed no detectable double-stranded RNA contamination, reduced cytokine activation and higher protein expression than synthetic mRNA in human immune-cell assays.1 The release does not identify the evaluators, the synthetic comparator or whether that comparator was purified, a gap that matters because purification can remove such contaminants from synthetic mRNA. It reports no animal or clinical data.
The release also cites publication in Nature Biotechnology on the company’s cell-based circular RNA manufacturing technology. The Nature Biotechnology paper describes a ribozyme-based system for expressing circular RNA aptamers in cells, was written by authors not named in the release and does not address therapeutic mRNA production.4
Proceeds will support VECTOR scale-up, expansion of artificial intelligence–enabled design and automated screening, and clinical-grade manufacturing development. Sensible reports a strategic partnership with Sartorius to scale the cell-based platform toward clinical-grade mRNA manufacturing, along with partnerships with other technology companies.
New investors OTB Ventures and In-Q-Tel joined existing backers, and Vishal Gulati of Recode Ventures and Schoppig will join the board.1 Several questions remain.
The release does not disclose the size of the Series A, a lead therapeutic program or a clinical timeline, and it lists potential applications in cancer, genetic medicines, protein replacement, antibodies and cell therapies without ranking them. Whether cell-made mRNA can meet purity, consistency and cost expectations at clinical scale is the central test for expanding mRNA into therapies that require repeated dosing.
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