Medicines Discovery Catapult (MDC) and the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) will collaborate on a new project to address a critical barrier in next-generation RNA development: the absence of robust, standardised measurement tools to evaluate efficacy and dosing.

Funded by the Innovate UK Analysis for Innovators programme, the project will develop and validate new standardised experimental assays and make them available to SMEs, academic groups and industry partners across the UK.

RNA medicines have the potential to treat diseases once considered untreatable, including infections, rare genetic conditions and cancers. The potential of mRNA medicines was exemplified during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the rapid development of mRNA COVID vaccines bringing global attention to the field and driving innovation. Emerging next-generation technologies, such as self-amplifying RNA (saRNA), are examples of this innovation and are showing early promise.

saRNA is a form of RNA that amplifies itself once inside target cells. This approach can produce a longer-lived biological effect after a single low dose thus making the treatment more effective whilst reducing both the number of doses and the initial dose required. This has benefits for the patient and supports more sustainable medicines manufacturing, as more medicines can be produced with less material.

Despite recent advances, saRNA development has been limited by a lack of reliable tests to evaluate the dose required to effectively treat disease. As a result, developers face higher technical and regulatory risks, which can delay development, deter investment and ultimately slow the delivery of promising new RNA medicines to patients.

The project brings together CPI and MDC’s complementary expertise, building on the platform of technologies and assays established collaboratively through the Intracellular Drug Delivery Centre. Together, the partners will create new research tools that are transferable across drug development stages, supporting innovators from early research through to scale-up and manufacture.

By embedding these capabilities within the UK’s translational drug discovery infrastructure and aligning approaches with regulatory expectations, MDC and CPI will strengthen the ecosystem’s ability to evaluate and advance emerging RNA technologies. This will help to reduce development timelines, lower risk, and accelerate patient access to next-generation RNA medicines.

Sarah Brockbank, Strategy Leader, Complex Medicines at Medicines Discovery Catapult, said:

“Self-amplifying RNA represents a new class of RNA medicine that offers benefits compared with conventional RNA, but innovation in this area is fast outpacing the tools we have available to evaluate its delivery and performance. We look forward to partnering with CPI to develop the tools researchers need to advance new RNA medicines through preclinical studies with greater confidence so that they can reach patients faster.”

Juliana Haggerty, Head of the Intracellular Drug Delivery Centre at CPI, said:

“Next-generation RNA modalities have enormous potential, but their translation depends on having the right measurement tools in place. Without robust, biologically relevant assays, promising candidates can stall or fail unnecessarily. This project is about giving developers the confidence, data and clarity they need to progress RNA medicines faster and with lower risk, and we’re pleased to be working with Medicines Discovery Catapult to deliver that capability.”

Find out more about how MDC’s expertise can accelerate drug discovery for complex medicines and new modalities like saRNA here.