Vernal Biosciences Announces $20MM Funding to Expand mRNA and LNP Manufacturing - Revolutionizing the Biopharma Industry

In a recent funding round led by Ampersand Capital Partners and Charles River Labs, Vernal Biosciences has announced an additional $20MM in funding to expand its Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) manufacturing facility. With the new funding, the Vermont-based Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) plans to complete its first state-of-the-art GMP manufacturing facility that is scheduled to be online in July 2023. The funding will also support expanded manufacturing and capabilities in support of cGMP manufacturing, making high purity mRNA and lipid nanoparticle (LNP) formulated mRNA readily available to more therapeutic innovators and biopharma leaders.

Vernal’s CEO and Founder Christian Cobaugh is excited about the expansion of Vernal’s GMP manufacturing capabilities. He said, “We are on a mission to democratize mRNA R&D by making high purity mRNA and lipid nanoparticle (LNP) formulated mRNA readily available to more therapeutic innovators and biopharma leaders. This funding helps us make our vision a reality. The funding will also allow us to accelerate our second site, to begin next year, to support larger scale cGMP manufacturing for commercial mRNA drug products.”

Vernal offers full-service manufacturing ranging from cell banking, plasmid DNA, and the resulting mRNA, to formulations into a variety of lipid chemistries. It leverages platform process and analytical technologies to rapidly manufacture high purity mRNA and LNP-formulated mRNA. Vernal’s technologies are an advanced manufacturing staging ground for research, pre-clinical, and ultimately clinical development supply needs.

Ampersand Capital Partners is excited to continue its partnership with Christian and the Vernal team to support the company’s ongoing transformation into a full-service CDMO in the mRNA end-market. With its recent experiences building advanced therapy CDMOs such as BrammerBio, ArrantaBio, and Vibalogics, Ampersand is an excellent partner for Vernal at this stage in the company’s growth.

This funding comes on the heels of the May 2022 round of financing totaling $21MM, including investment from Vernal’s partner Alloy Therapeutics. There have been several other recent milestones in the company’s rapid growth. Vernal has scaled their workforce to 65 employees over the past year, added dozens of new customers, and increased scale by a factor of 20x.

Vernal Biosciences is a fully integrated Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) founded in 2021 and headquartered just outside of Burlington, Vermont. It has a singular focus on manufacturing and formulating mRNA and LNP-mRNA. Vernal is inspired to accelerate the potential of mRNA through democratizing access to its expertise and unparalleled mRNA and LNP-mRNA platform technologies.

In conclusion, Vernal Biosciences is revolutionizing the biopharma industry with its innovative mRNA and LNP manufacturing technology. With the new funding, the company will continue to democratize access to its expertise, making high-purity mRNA and LNP-formulated mRNA readily available to more therapeutic innovators and biopharma leaders. The completion of the GMP manufacturing facility in July 2023 will further expand the capabilities of Vernal’s research and preclinical business, accelerating the company’s growth in the mRNA end-market.