Arcturus Therapeutics partner to receive $165M from Japanese government

Arcturus Therapeutics announced that Arcalis, Arcturus’ manufacturing joint venture in Japan to support the production of mRNA vaccines and therapeutics, has been selected by the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry to receive additional financial support to construct a DNA template manufacturing facility along with new sequipment. In total to date, $165M has been awarded to Arcalis by the Japanese government to build mRNA Drug Substance, mRNA Drug Product manufacturing capabilities and to construct a DNA template manufacturing facility. The mRNA Drug Substance manufacturing facility was completed in July 2023. Arcalis will provide cGMP-integrated vaccine manufacturing, from mRNA drug substance to bulk nanoparticle-formulated drug product. This new capital will fund the development of a DNA plasmid production process to support the rapid manufacture of various vaccines and therapeutics, investigational drugs, and mRNA-based medicines. The new facility is designed to accelerate vaccine production by enabling the manufacturing of DNA plasmid and delivering vaccines within 100 days of the declaration of a target viral strain. The DNA plasmid generated at this facility is intended to be used as the key starting material in the manufacture of mRNA Drug Substance at the neighboring facility.