Accelerating RNA manufacturing with GMP-compliant dbDNA technologies
A critical bottleneck for rapid onset of clinical trials as well as for resilient supply of commercial RNA products is the production of plasmid DNA, which is routinely used as starting material for mRNA manufacture. Touchlight’s dbDNA™ (doggybone™ DNA) is a novel and disruptive advancement in DNA manufacturing technology, designed to overcome the limitations of traditional plasmid DNA (pDNA) production. This proprietary enzymatic process enables the rapid, scalable, and high-purity production of DNA without relying on bacterial systems, eliminating the need for bacterial sequences and antibiotic resistance genes. The process is highly portable and scalable, supporting rapid GMP production, which is crucial for applications in personalised medicine and pandemic response. dbDNA is extensively tested in house and with partners, for critical quality attributes and efficiency in RNA workflows. With evidence in its application in a wide range of RNA formats including mRNA and saRNA, and ability to encode unstable sequences make it an optimal template for IVT. Extensive investment in facilities has positioned Touchlight as one of the world’s largest DNA CDMOs by output in 2024, making it the ideal provider to meet the demands of the rapidly growing nucleic acid market.