Capsule coffee-inspired customizable mRNA vaccine production using a Rapid On-Site Microfluidic Assembly (ROMA) technology

Title : Capsule coffee-inspired customizable mRNA vaccine production using a Rapid On-Site Microfluidic Assembly (ROMA) technology

Abstract:

The emergence of mRNA vaccine has been profoundly addressing global infectious disease challenges and revolutionizing cancer therapy and gene-editing. However, current mRNA vaccine remains distant from customizable supply and are fraught with hurdles of thermo-instability and infrastructure dependence. Drawing inspiration from the efficiency of capsule coffee machines, we introduce a Rapid On-Site Microfluidic Assembly (ROMA) prototype capable of generating ready-to-inject mRNA vaccines at a throughput of 180 doses/hour (~100 μg mRNA/dose). Analogous to the varied flavors of capsule coffee, our ROMA prototype offers personalized options for mRNA vaccines, including Lipid Nanoparticle (LNP) sizes, compositions, mRNA types, and dosages tailored to individual needs. Diverging from traditional mechanism of directly assembling mRNA and lipids into mRNA-LNPs, ROMA technology utilizes mRNA and pre-made empty LNPs to form mRNA-LNPs. Nevertheless, ROMA mRNA vaccine exhibits equivalent physiochemical parameters and in-vivo expressions compared to conventional ones, with a benefit of lower toxicity. Crucially, ROMA mRNA vaccine, immediately deployable without the need for storage, fundamentally avoids the thermal instability and degradation risks associated with conventional mRNA vaccines. This transformative ROMA technology offers unparalleled user-end convenience, unlocking the potential for personalized mRNA vaccines and treatments, thereby significantly expanding the scope of mRNA and nucleic acid therapeutics. 

Audience Take Away:

• ROMA prototype realizes small quantity but highly variable mRNA vaccine production of a GMP level at bedside, and thus circumvents the inherent thermal instability and susceptibility to degradation associated with conventional mRNA vaccines
• We believe that the ROMA technology can harmoniously meet urgent needs of basic research and emergent public health, greatly shorten turnover time of personalized vaccine and bedside therapy, and broadly benefit fields like personalized tumor vaccines, protein replacement therapy and gene therapy
• The ROMA prototype represents a first-in-class platform for portable, customizable, and ondemand vaccine production at the user-end, by reducing the manufacturing cycle of 
• conventional mRNA vaccines from several days to a matter of minutes

Biography:

Dr. Jiang Xu has served as a senior scientist at Virogin Biotech since 2021, leading the microfluidics group. Prior to this, he worked at Harvard Medical School as a postdoctoral and held a PI scientist position at Boston Molecules Inc. Dr. Xu earned his cotutelle Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the University of Bordeaux and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Waterloo. He has won a series of prestigious funding and awards, including Harvard Catalyst Fellowship (2021), European Erasmus Mundus Fellowship (2012, Ph.D.), NIH Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx®) grant (2020, PI), and Shanghai Rising-Star program (2023, PI).