ARISE · Advanced platform for saRNA production at Industrial Scale in Eukaryotes

Messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics have shown great promise for treating infections, cancer, and genetic diseases, but their production is expensive, complex, and difficult to scale. Current methods rely on cell-free systems that use costly enzymes and building blocks, limiting access to these therapies. There is a growing need for new ways to make mRNA that are affordable, reliable, and suitable for producing many different types of mRNA, including advanced formats such as self-amplifying RNA (saRNA), which can produce more therapeutic effect with lower doses. The ARISE project aims to create a new, yeast-based platform for large-scale, low-cost mRNA manufacturing. Yeasts are simple organisms that naturally make mature mRNA similar to that found in human cells, and they can be grown quickly and cheaply in industrial systems. However, mRNA inside yeast is normally broken down very quickly, preventing its use for medicine production. ARISE will overcome this by developing a method that switches on production of the desired mRNA inside yeast only when needed and stores it in special safe compartments, protecting it until it can be collected. The stored mRNA will then be extracted and purified using a simple and scalable process, enabling production of both standard and long mRNAs. ARISE project will also adapt the system to make complex, long self-amplifying RNAs, which contain the instructions for both the therapeutic protein and the machinery to copy themselves in the host’s cells. Finally, ARISE will scale up the process to pilot level, preparing it for industrial use. By lowering costs and enabling true large-scale production, ARISE will remove a major barrier to the development and fair distribution of mRNA medicines worldwide, supporting public health preparedness and innovation in advanced therapies.