Vision & Mission

The Yscript consortium has set out to develop a tailor-made yeast-based messenger RNA (mRNA) factory platform for large-scale and cost-effective manufacturing of mRNA therapeutics. Messenger RNA vaccines have become a game-changer in the fight against COVID-19, and mRNA is considered the basis for a vast array of therapeutic applications.

Currently, in vitro transcription (IVT) is the only available technology for mRNA production, however, it relies on a complex supply chain and a costly purification process. This is a major problem hampering large-scale IVT production and high production costs are a problem for low-income countries.

Within Yscript, eight partners from five countries have been working together over three and a half years to overcome this obstacle. Establishing a specific mRNA bioproduction and purification process in yeast could be a breakthrough in the development of mRNA-based drugs and vaccines for diseases and epidemics that are rampant worldwide with affordable costs and practical logistics. Thus, even after the end of Yscript in October 2025, the Yscript partners are still committed to their goal.