Hyderabad-based biotechnology company PopVax launched the RNA Foundry on 30 October 2026, a research, development and GMP-aligned manufacturing facility in Hyderabad that will design and produce personalised mRNA cancer vaccines. Built with Stochastic Sciences, the facility plans to make more than 100 patient-specific vaccines over the next 12 months, the company said.

What the PopVax RNA Foundry will do

The RNA Foundry offers contract research, development and manufacturing services for personalised cancer vaccines. PopVax founder Soham Sankaran announced the launch on X, saying that making RNA medicines “to a high standard of quality is not easy” and that the company wanted to open up these capabilities to more patients and clinicians.

Advertisement

The model is different from a standard vaccine plant. Each vaccine is designed for one patient, based on the mutations found in that person’s tumour. The launch adds a privately built mRNA manufacturing site to India’s growing list of advanced therapy facilities moving from research to GMP manufacturing.

How a personalised mRNA cancer vaccine is made

• Sequencing: the patient’s tumour and healthy tissue are sequenced to find cancer-specific mutations.
• AI design: PopVax’s in-house pipeline uses frontier AI models with open-source MHC presentation and immunogenicity prediction tools to choose neoantigens, the abnormal proteins that can trigger an immune response.
• Manufacture: the chosen mRNA sequence is produced in ISO 7/8 cleanrooms, wrapped in lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) and filled into vials.
• Quality control: each batch is tested for RNA identity, particle size, mRNA integrity, encapsulation efficiency, endotoxin and sterility, and ships with a certificate of analysis.

Industry observers who reviewed the launch pointed to a proposed turnaround of eight to 10 weeks from tumour sequencing data to a finished vaccine, The New Indian Express reported.

A fridge-stable platform already in clinical trials

The foundry uses the same mRNA and LNP platform, manufacturing process and quality protocols that PopVax used for PVX-001, its broadly protective COVID-19 vaccine candidate. PVX-001 was made at the same Hyderabad facility and entered a clinical trial in Australia in August 2026.

According to the RNA Foundry website, PopVax’s LNP formulation, based on its ionisable lipid PVXL-150, stays stable for more than nine months in a normal refrigerator at 2-8°C. That removes the ultra-cold storage that limited early mRNA vaccines. The company also makes its own ionisable lipids under GMP conditions, from plasmid DNA through to the finished mRNA-LNP product.

PopVax was founded in late 2021 and is backed by the Gates Foundation, Good Ventures, Vitalik Buterin and the US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA). Apart from cancer, its programmes cover tuberculosis, influenza, hepatitis C, HPV and malaria.

Regulatory status: still early

None of the cancer vaccine candidates has yet been given to patients. PopVax plans to start with a small group of doctors and patients outside India, offering vaccines through named-patient and compassionate-use pathways subject to regulatory approval. The cancer programme will need its own clinical trials to prove safety and efficacy, Sankaran told The New Indian Express, and the vaccines are meant to be used alongside existing treatments, not replace them.

The company said it is focusing on cancers with poor outcomes, where more than 80% of patients die within five years of diagnosis. Biocon Executive Chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw congratulated the team on X.

Why it matters for India’s biopharma industry

Personalised mRNA vaccines are one of the most closely watched areas in oncology after encouraging results from Merck and Moderna in melanoma and from BioNTech and Genentech in pancreatic cancer. A Hyderabad facility that can design, make and test these products in-house shows that Indian biotech is moving into complex, made-to-order biologics rather than only high-volume generics.

It also fits the government’s push for new modalities: the Centre recently approved ₹1,600 crore for 41 pharma and medtech innovation projects under PRIP, and Indian firms are building GMP capacity for next-generation biologics and investing in CAR-T cell therapy. Hyderabad’s Genome Valley cluster is also drawing global R&D, with Amgen setting up a science and innovation centre there. The real test will be clinical data and how Indian and overseas regulators treat patient-specific vaccines.

Key takeaways

• PopVax launched the RNA Foundry in Hyderabad on 30 October 2026 with Stochastic Sciences to make personalised mRNA cancer vaccines.
• It plans to produce more than 100 patient-specific vaccines over the next 12 months, using AI to pick tumour neoantigens.
• Its fridge-stable LNP platform is already in a COVID-19 vaccine trial in Australia; the cancer vaccines have not yet been given to patients.

FAQ

What is a personalised mRNA cancer vaccine?

It is an mRNA medicine designed for one patient. It carries instructions for proteins found only on that patient’s tumour cells, training the immune system to recognise and attack them.

Are PopVax’s cancer vaccines approved in India?

No. The candidates have not been given to patients yet. PopVax plans to start through named-patient and compassionate-use pathways outside India, subject to regulatory approval, and will need clinical trials to prove safety and efficacy.

How many vaccines can the RNA Foundry make?

PopVax says the facility has capacity to make more than 100 personalised cancer vaccines over the next 12 months.

Featured image: a scientist at work at PopVax’s RNA Foundry in Hyderabad. Photo: PopVax (company image).

Like

Dislike

Be a part of Elets Collaborative Initiatives. Join Us for Upcoming Events and explore business opportunities. Like us on Facebook , connect with us on LinkedIn and follow us on Twitter , Instagram.

"Exciting news! Elets technomedia is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest insights!" Click here!