Aurora Biosynthetics has launched in Australia as a subsidiary of Myeloid Therapeutics, a US-based biotech focusing on cancer immunotherapy.
Myeloid uses lipid nanoparticles to deliver mRNA molecules to myeloid cells in the body with a view to triggering an enhanced anti-tumor response. It began a phase 1 trial in liver cancer patients in August.
Aurora is being created as part of a public sector-industry partnership. The company will be located on the Wallumattagal campus at Macquarie University in Sydney, New South Wales, and the local government has agreed to fund the construction costs of the production facility as part of an AU$200 million commitment to support RNA research and development in the region.
Construction of the buildings started last week and with an AU$96 million investment by the New South Wales government Aurora will be the first facility of its kind in Australia.
"Macquarie University is proud to host this groundbreaking new facility, which is a significant addition to the thriving medical precinct within the Connect Macquarie Park Innovation District,” said Macquarie University Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), Professor Sakkie Pretorius, in a press statement.
“RNA research has incredible potential, and we share in RNA Australia's vision for advancing biomedical science for the benefit of Australia and the world."
The idea of the new manufacturing facility is to provide a ‘one stop shop’ for manufacturing RNA-based therapies that will allow research teams or biotech companies to create a product, develop it and commercialize it.
Aurora plans to work under Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) conditions and produce plasmid DNA, messenger RNA, and lipid nanoparticles for use in various molecular medicine therapeutics, with a particular focus on RNA.
Supporting a new era in medicine
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the potential of using RNA to produce vaccines and therapies became very clear with billions of doses of the two approved mRNA vaccines produced over the last few years.
On the back of this, demand for advanced therapeutics such as gene and cell therapies and RNA-based therapies and vaccines has increased enormously over the last five years, particularly in the Asia–Pacific region.
The Asia-Pacific gene therapy market is predicted to reach nearly $7 billion in 2030 at an estimated growth rate of 37% a year since 2020. A study published earlier this year confirmed this and showed many industry deals in this region over the last five years had a focus on RNA therapies, oligonucleotides and mRNA vaccines.
Aurora hopes to benefit from the projected 20% increase in compound annual growth rate in the cell and gene therapy field over the next few years. Businesses and research teams in the region hoping to use the facility can also benefit from a tax credit system set up in Australia, which offers 43% cash back on money spent on research and development.