RNA technology is transforming the future of medicine and agriculture, and New Zealand has moved decisively to be part of this global shift. The New Zealand RNA Development Platform is a government-funded initiative designed to build the infrastructure, expertise, and innovation pipeline needed to deliver real-world outcomes for both the human health and agricultural sectors. Now in year three of a seven-year investment, the platform has established a dedicated research and production facility that has delivered more than 1,000 unique RNA products and over 500 pre-clinical vaccines to researchers in New Zealand and internationally.
At the heart of the platform is a tightly integrated, multidisciplinary ecosystem. A specialist production team works alongside development scientists and an immunogenicity group, creating a continuous feedback loop between RNA design, manufacturing, and pre-clinical evaluation. This co-location of molecular biologists, chemists, and immunologists enables rapid iteration, accelerating the development of novel delivery systems, advancing antigen design, and supporting early adoption of emerging technologies. It also allows for deeper analytical insight and more robust quality control, helping to uncover how production processes directly influence product performance.
The platform supports a diverse portfolio of projects spanning human vaccines, therapeutics and agricultural applications, many of which are developed, tested, and optimized entirely in-house. In this presentation, I will highlight through a number of platform projects how this integrated, cross-disciplinary approach is driving improvements in both our production methods and the effectiveness of RNA-based vaccines and therapeutics.