On July 12, 2021 Vernal Biosciences, Inc., a manufacturer of high purity mRNA for research and clinical use, reported the closing of a seed round of financing (Press release, Alloy Therapeutics, JUL 12, 2021, View Source [SID1234584786]). Alloy Therapeutics led the round and was joined by the Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies and individual angel investors. The proceeds of the financing will be used to scale Vernal’s technical development and commercial operations in the Burlington, VT region.
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Vernal is focused on achieving and maintaining high purity throughout the scaling of all mRNA manufacturing processes for clients in the research and ultimately clinical stages. The company was founded by CEO Christian Cobaugh, who previously held mRNA process and manufacturing leadership roles at Omega Therapeutics, Translate Bio, Arcturus Therapeutics, and Alexion Pharmaceuticals, where he was the first researcher in the Alexion-Moderna partnership. He brings a deep understanding of the mRNA manufacturing value-chain—including mRNA design and specifications, regulatory expectations, and quality product profiles—to improve Vernal clients’ odds of success through a highly adaptable and well-characterized manufacturing process.
"We are inspired to realize the potential of mRNA, a validated and revolutionary medicines modality, through democratizing access to unparalleled mRNA manufacturing technologies," said Christian Cobaugh, founder and CEO of Vernal. "The associated knowledge, technology, and talent has long been cloistered within select mRNA therapeutics companies. It is critical to remove barriers to mRNA manufacturing technologies for the benefit of patients and investors seeking novel use cases of mRNA. Equal access to high purity mRNA manufacturing will encourage growth in innovation, competition, and collaboration, accelerating the clinical impact of mRNA as a foundational therapeutic modality."
Through collaborative research and partnerships, Vernal is developing innovative process and analytical technologies to overcome the challenges of manufacturing high purity mRNA. The company’s universal platform, which emphasizes Quality-by-Design and documented process characterization, will accelerate client projects and simplify regulatory interactions. Vernal is fine-tuning this platform so that clients do not "hurry up and wait" for clinical manufacturing processes to start from scratch—enabling clients to focus on other high-value operations such as target biology, drug discovery, and clinical development. Vernal’s mRNA solutions will scale with client needs, regardless of discovery or clinical stage or use case.
Already engaging with clients on research and preclinical projects, Vernal’s seed financing will be used to scale its technology and business to add the GMP clinical manufacturing capability operations for ongoing and future client discovery projects. As part of the Series Seed financing, Errik Anderson, CEO and founder of Alloy Therapeutics, will join Vernal’s Board of Directors. Pat Sacco, longtime biotech technical operations and manufacturing executive (senior vice president of technical operations at both Translate Bio and Shire plc/TKT), will also be joining Vernal as a board advisor. While at Shire, Pat’s teams supported development, manufacturing, and commercialization of REPLAGAL, ELAPRASE, and VPRIV.
"Backing Vernal’s vision for mRNA manufacturing is fully aligned with Alloy’s ecosystem approach and our commitment to reinvest 100% of Alloy’s revenues back into innovation and access to innovation," said Anderson. "Collaboration and democratization of foundational drug discovery capabilities are critical in ensuring our industry delivers on its promise to get the best drugs to patients faster. Alloy is thrilled to support Christian and the Vernal team in their mission to bring high quality mRNA to innovative companies and projects of all sizes."
Vermont Seed Capital Fund Manager David Bradbury added, "We are thrilled to welcome mRNA veteran Christian Cobaugh and the Vernal team into Vermont and support the launch of this high potential new life sciences company."