An Indian biotech company might have just revolutionised cancer treatment in the country. Soham Sankaran, founder of PopVax, took to social media to announce the development, highlighting that making mRNA medicine of high quality was not an easy task. Launched in 2021, Hyderabad-based PopVax on Friday (Oct 30) unveiled RNA Foundry, a specialised research, development, and manufacturing facility that aims to deliver personalised cancer vaccines to patients.
Most big pharma companies manufacture cancer vaccines in a standardised way for entire populations, but PopVax is hoping to build custom-tailored medicine for each individual’s unique biological, genetic or disease makeup. “Personalised RNA cancer vaccines have the potential to transform cancer care. But research, development, and manufacturing for these medicines is not widely available to those that need them the most. “The RNA Foundry is a full-stack research, development, and manufacturing facility in Hyderabad, India, built to align with global Good Manufacturing Practices for new medicines. This is the same facility where we manufactured our first mRNA vaccine candidate, which entered clinical trials in Australia in August. A third commented: “I don’t think people realise how big a deal this is. If you have cancer, or somebody you know has cancer, there is a company in Hyderabad that wants to build a personalised cancer vaccine for you. An Indian biotech startup, PopVax, is building something fascinating.”
Over the last four years at PopVax, we’ve learned that making RNA medicines to a high standard of quality is not easy,” said Soham Sankaran, founder of PopVax. A fourth said: “Personalised cancer vaccine era is just getting started, and soon it could become normal.
