Vision & Mission

The Yscript consortium sets 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 are working together over the next three 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.