Govt injects $70m into research on RNA tech used in Covid-19 vaccine

SThe Government is injecting $70m toward a new science effort aimed at making New Zealand a leader in the same tech under-pinning Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine. Photo / Getty Images

The Government is injecting $70m towards a major new science effort aimed at making New Zealand a leader in the same tech underpinning Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine.

That’s ribonucleic acid, or RNA - something found in all living cells, with structural similarities to DNA, and which scientists believe could be transformative for medical technologies.

After the Government last year budgeted $40m towards research in the space, it this week announced a $70m investment in a new RNA Development Platform, to be co-hosted by Victoria and Auckland universities.

The platform – initially receiving $500,000, with the rest coming over seven years – is also being supported by Otago University and the Wellington-based Malaghan Institute of Medical Research.

The institute’s Dr Kjesten Wiig, serving as the platform’s interim co-director, said the tech presented a way for New Zealand to “super-charge” its biotech sector and become a leader in the development of new RNA-based therapeutics.

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine that most Kiwis received involved an mRNA sequence: or a specific, pre-coded molecule instructing our cells what to build, but which couldn’t modify our own genetics.

The tech has promise in new vaccines, treatments and diagnostics targeted in areas such as cancer and autoimmune diseases, with potential uses in other areas, such as animal health and agriculture.

The new platform aimed to build capacity across the country’s biotech sector, from early research and development through to regulations and production.

It would also support developments in manufacturing, such as by creating new delivery systems for RNA vaccines or advancing smaller scale labs to be able to efficiently produce RNA therapeutics.

The RNA Platform will also support New Zealand’s aspirations to develop local vaccines and therapeutics. I’m so proud to support our world-class researchers and industry to deliver this vision. https://t.co/76XthyhU1T

— Ayesha Verrall (@drayeshaverrall) March 22, 2023

“We believe that we are at the beginning of a step change in medicine - the RNA technology used in the Covid-19 vaccines is as disruptive and revolutionary as penicillin and computers.”

Fellow interim co-director Professor John Fraser, of the University of Auckland, said the country’s leading research institutes and companies would be working towards a shared goal.

Victoria University’s vice-provost (research) Professor Margaret Hyland added: “This platform will bring together experts from across different organisations, here in New Zealand and internationally, and build the end-to-end capability of RNA technologies— from the lab right up to full-scale production.”

While New Zealand scientists have been developing their own Covid-19 vaccine – now in the final stages of preclinical development - it was based on different technology to Pfizer’s mRNA platform.

The new investment comes at a time the Government is separately reviewing regulations around gene editing, also with a focus on biomedical science.

Specifically, officials are looking at whether our regime should be focused more on risk than the tech involved.

“There are many developments in biomedical research, from cancer therapies to vaccines, and we’d like our regulations to keep pace with these developments,” Environment Minister David Parker told the Herald last year.

“Moving to a risk-based approach ensures that our regulations don’t become out-of-date with each new technological advance.”