SCG Cell Therapy, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel immunotherapies for infectious diseases and their associated cancers, has announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with A*STAR Bioprocessing Technology Institute (BTI) and Nucleic Acid Therapeutics Initiative (NATi) to advance RNA-based therapeutics manufacturing process development and clinical translation.

The MoU enables the combination of A*STAR BTI and NATi's research and development (R&D) capabilities in bioprocessing technologies, biomarker discovery and target validation with SCG's local GMP manufacturing capability and global clinical development, to accelerate RNA-based cell and gene therapy and mRNA vaccine commercialisation from concept to patient-centric delivery.

In line with the MoU, the three parties will work together on collaborative projects related to RNA manufacturing process development, analytics, automation, and digitalisation. A joint laboratory will be established, including cGMP runs in SCG's pilot manufacturing facility in Singapore, as well as a joint talent development programme to train the next generation of scientists and engineers in Good Manufacturing Practices.

In April 2024, SCG and A*STAR announced the launch of joint laboratories for cellular immunotherapies with combined funding of close to S$30 million supported under Singapore's Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2025 Plan (RIE2025). The joint laboratories, established at SCG's GMP facility and A*STAR BTI's research facility, leverage SCG's and A*STAR's proprietary technologies to develop scalable GMP-grade induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) and therapeutic products. The collaboration also bridges the expertise between public sector R&D and industry, consolidating resources from SCG Cell Therapy and A*STAR to advance innovative R&D towards GMP manufacturing.