Sensible secures $47M to rethink mRNA manufacturing
Oxford-based Sensible Biotechnologies has secured a $47 million (€42 million) financing package to scale a platform that makes mRNA in living cells, targeting manufacturing costs and unwanted immune activation that can limit its use in treatments beyond vaccines.
Who’s backing it: The round was led by Oxford Science Enterprises. New investors OTB Ventures and In-Q-Tel joined existing backers, including Recode Ventures, Isomer Capital, Y Combinator, Backed VC, Kaya VC, Civilization Ventures and BlueYard Capital. The family office of BioNTech co-founder Christoph Huber and former Eli Lilly chief medical officer Tim Garnett also participated.
- In addition, the company could receive up to $20 million (€18 million) in non-dilutive funding from Slovakia’s government and the European Union.
Why it matters: Sensible is targeting applications that require higher or repeated doses of mRNA, including protein replacement, cancer treatments and genetic medicines. Its bet is that changing how mRNA is made could improve both its performance and the economics of producing those treatments.
What they’re saying: “mRNA transformed vaccines, but we believe its greatest potential lies in therapeutics,” said Miroslav Gasparek, Sensible’s CEO and co-founder. “With this financing, we can scale our platform and expand mRNA into therapeutic applications requiring high or repeated dosing that have historically been limited by cost.”
How it works: Conventional mRNA manufacturing uses a cell-free process called in vitro transcription. Sensible instead uses engineered living cells to produce naturally modified mRNA, combining that production process with AI-enabled sequence design and automated screening in its VECTOR platform.
- Its PromPT technology captures and protects the mRNA inside cells before purification. The company aims to reduce reliance on specialized manufacturing inputs while producing mRNA that triggers less unwanted immune activity and generates more of the intended protein.
- One target is double-stranded RNA contamination, a manufacturing impurity that can activate immune responses. Sensible says external evaluations found no detectable double-stranded RNA in its cell-made mRNA, alongside reduced cytokine activation and higher protein expression than synthetic mRNA in human immune-cell assays.
What’s next: The financing will support platform scale-up, expanded design and screening capabilities, and clinical-grade manufacturing. Sensible already works with Sartorius Stedim Biotech under a July 2025 agreement covering process development, facility design and technical support, which targeted clinical-grade production by 2026.
