Improving the efficiency of nanoparticles that transport mRNA to cells

Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) were critical to the rapid development of Covid-19 mRNA vaccines. LNPs protect messenger RNA and transport it to cells, but delivery efficiency remains limited: the vast majority of the mRNA becomes trapped within endosomes, leaving only a fraction to reach its target destination in the cellular cytoplasm.

To improve this process, our teams are developing an endosomal escape system for LNPs to create a cutting-edge platform capable of drastically increasing the percentage of mRNA delivered into the cytoplasm of cells. Funded with $1.5M from Médicament Québec, this research is a collaboration with Feldan Therapeutics, which is overseeing the platform’s development and securing the funding required for its deployment, and TransBIOTech, which will evaluate the platform in the appropriate animal model.

This project is headed by Professor Bruno Gaillet of Université Laval.