Rznomics announced on the 26th that it has registered a U.S. patent for its foundational technology platform, the ‘self-circularization RNA structure’ which enables efficient and simple production of circular RNA, overcoming the limitations of the existing technologies.

Rznomics has also completed applications in Europe, Japan, China, Australia, Canada, Singapore, Israel and Brazil.

Circular RNA (circular RNA or circRNA), unlike linear RNA used in mRNA vaccines, has a closed structure, providing superior stability against nucleases.

Rznomics has developed a new technology fundamentally different from the existing ‘PIE(Permuted Intron-Exon) method’ based on the conventional ‘Group I Intron ribozyme’ for RNA circularization. While the PIE method leaves unwanted nucleotide sequences in the final product, Rznomics’ RNA circularization technology ensures that specific nucleotide sequences are completely absent from the circular RNA after the self-circularization reaction.

 

Dr. Kyung-hyun Lee, a senior researcher at Rznomics, stated, "Due to the unique characteristics of our self-circularization mechanism, various designs can enhance self-circularization efficiency compared to the PIE method, resulting in significantly higher self-circularization and purifications yields."

Seong-wook Lee, CEO of Rznomics, stated, "In the finally registered patent, we have been granted broad rights by describing the components of the self-circularization RNA structure based on their functions, without limiting them to specific sequences in the examples.” He continued, “With the registration of the U.S. patent, we are actively engaged in research on various applications and indications using circular RNA, in addition to establishing mass production processes through advanced self-circularization and purification efficiency improvements for rapid commercialization."