Orna Therapeutics oRNA Therapies Get Nod from Merck

Cambridge startup Orna Therapeutics has announced a collaboration agreement with Merck to discover, develop, and commercialize multiple programs pioneering a new investigational class of engineered circular RNA (oRNA) therapies, including vaccines and therapeutics in the areas of infectious diseases and oncology. Under the terms of the agreement, Merck will make an upfront payment to Orna of $150 million. In addition, Orna will be eligible to receive up to $3.5 billion in development, regulatory, and sales milestones associated with the progress of the multiple vaccine and therapeutic programs, as well as royalties on any approved products derived from the collaboration. Orna will retain rights to its oRNA-LNP technology platform and will continue to advance other wholly owned programs in areas such as oncology and genetic disease. Merck will also invest $100 million of equity in Orna’s recently completed Series B financing round.

Orna’s proprietary oRNA technology creates circular RNAs (oRNAs) from linear RNAs by self-circularization. oRNA molecules have been shown to have greater stability in vivo than linear mRNA and have the potential to produce larger quantities of therapeutic proteins inside the body. Newly synthesized oRNA molecules are more compactly packaged into custom lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), which Orna has engineered to target key tissues in the body. Preclinical data, including presentations at the 2022 American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy (ASGCT) Annual Meeting, have demonstrated the potential of oRNA expression and delivery as an approach for further development in multiple areas, including vaccines and oncology therapeutics.

Orna Therapeutics was founded on research by Alex Wesselhoeft, Ph.D., and Daniel G. Anderson, Ph.D. from MIT and built by MPM Capital and BioImpact Capital, an investment management affiliate of MPM. (Source: Orna Therapeutics Website, 16 August, 2022)