MRFF funding advances Hudson Institute RNA therapies

Hudson Institute of Medical Research has been recognised as a leader in RNA based therapeutics, with new federal government funding set to accelerate the search for new and better treatments.

The RNAte Platform, located at Hudson Institute, has received a 2023 National Critical Research Infrastructure grant from the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF), cementing its role in the global development of safe and effective RNA and mRNA-based vaccines and therapeutics.

The National Critical Research Infrastructure initiative invests in research infrastructure to ensure Australian researchers find innovative solutions to complex health problems in areas of unmet medical need.

Bringing specialities together benefits RNA medicine

Director and CEO, Professor Elizabeth Hartland AM said this grant will help to bring several of Hudson Institute’s areas of specialisation together, to work on one of the most important areas of medical research globally.

“RNA technologies have the potential of to solve a range of health problems, but the success of RNA-based therapies and vaccines is tightly intertwined with nucleic acid sensing by the innate immune system,” Prof Hartland said.

“It is critical to define how new RNA-based products interact with the immune response to prevent unwanted inflammatory effects and toxicity.”

“RNAte has been designed to improve manufacturing and production processes and reduce unwanted inflammatory responses, meaning better product development, and greater community confidence in RNA-based medicine.” she said

RNAte benefits from federal and state funding

RNAte was initially established as a small-scale platform for local academic research users in 2022, thanks to $1.94 million seed funding from the Victorian State Government.

This MRFF grant, worth $2.4 million, seeks to further develop RNAte into an industry-focused and accredited platform with increased capabilities and greater capacity to support development of the global RNA industry and increased commercialisation opportunities for Australia.

Key capabilities offered by RNAte include

• Pre-clinical screening for mRNA and RNA-based product development by assaying whether RNA-innate immune sensing pathways are affected by new RNA products
• Testing for activation of other innate immune inflammatory and cell death signalling pathways as a critical requirement for the development of effective RNA-based vaccines and therapeutics
• High-throughput capacity to screen libraries of small molecules and biologics for their ability to activate or suppress inflammatory signalling pathways in human cells
• Development of iPSC-derived cell models, providing potential to support individualised testing for adverse immune activation or suppression in vulnerable patient groups.