Why Yeast?
Nature's Own mRNA Factory
Our aim is to develop a large-scale, cost-effective mRNA and saRNA production platform for therapeutics and vaccines. Currently, mRNA is produced by in vitro transcription (IVT) — an expensive, complex biochemical process that relies on a specialised, difficult-to-scale supply chain.
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mRNA is a naturally occurring molecule in all forms of life. Yeasts produce mRNA in a very similar manner to humans, and they are easy to grow at industrial scale. Furthermore, yeast has been used safely for centuries — from baking bread to producing biopharmaceuticals.
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The key challenge is that yeast mRNA is normally broken down very quickly, and separating therapeutic mRNA from the yeast's own RNA is difficult. ARISE overcomes this by engineering a system that produces and stores the desired RNA in protective subcellular compartments — isolating it until extraction.
How It Works
The Production Process
From engineered yeast cell factory to GMP-grade mRNA — a fully integrated, scalable pipeline.
01
Master Cell Bank
Using bYoRNA's proprietary recombinant yeast platform, we optimise the expression of the mRNA or saRNA of interest. The yeast strain is engineered with an inducible system that activates RNA production only on demand.
02
Upstream Process
Our patented technology allows mRNA to accumulate inside protective subcellular compartments, shielding it from cellular RNases. Industrial fermentation systems enable rapid, cost-effective biomass production.
03
Downstream Process
Leveraging industrial extraction and purification processes, we achieve high levels of purity. The scalable pipeline handles both standard mRNA and long saRNA molecules.
04
Quality Control
Each step is precisely analysed and controlled to allow for GMP-grade production. Biological activity, integrity, and safety are validated using state-of-the-art analytical methods.
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Innovation
Self-Amplifying RNA (saRNA)
ARISE extends the platform to produce complex, long self-amplifying RNAs (saRNA) — a next-generation RNA therapeutic format. saRNA encodes not only the therapeutic protein of interest, but also the molecular machinery needed to copy itself inside the host cell.
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This self-replication dramatically amplifies the therapeutic effect, meaning lower doses can achieve the same or greater efficacy compared to conventional mRNA. saRNA is particularly promising for vaccines and cancer immunotherapy.
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Producing long saRNA molecules (typically 9–12 kb) is a major challenge for existing IVT-based methods. The ARISE yeast platform is uniquely suited to this challenge, as yeast naturally handles large RNA molecules.
The advantages of self-amplifying mRNA (saRNA)
~1–4 kb
Conventional mRNA
Encodes therapeutic protein only
Encodes therapeutic protein only
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Higher doses (no replication)
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Short term expression (Hours)
~9–12 kb
Self-Amplifying RNA
​Encodes protein + replication machinery
​Encodes protein + replication machinery
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10–100× Lower dose needed
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Extended expression (Weeks)
Therapeutic Impact
Applications
A wide range of application from rare diseases to oncology.
Infectious Diseases
mRNA vaccines will tackle diseases as fearsome as HIV and as common as influenza. ARISE-produced mRNA could enable rapid, affordable vaccine responses to emerging pathogens.
Cancer Immunotherapy
mRNAs encoding cancer antigens help immune cells destroy tumours. ARISE's scalable platform could make personalised cancer vaccines accessible at population scale.
Rare Diseases
RNA-based gene therapy can deliver a healthy copy of a faulty gene to cells. ARISE's ability to produce long saRNA molecules opens new possibilities for complex genetic therapies.