Overview
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted a critical gap in Australia’s healthcare and innovation ecosystem: the lack of local mRNA manufacturing capability. Without it, even breakthrough therapies developed here often rely on overseas production to reach clinical trials.
Southern RNA was founded to change that. As an Australian contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO), it is building a sovereign, end-to-end mRNA manufacturing capability in Brisbane — producing mRNA and transforming it into patient-ready therapies. This gives Australian innovators access to the infrastructure they need to progress cutting-edge treatments and move them into clinical trials faster.
Investing ahead of critical milestones
Building this capability requires significant upfront investment in specialised equipment and highly skilled staff, often well before revenue or clinical milestones are realised. That creates a funding gap at the exact moment the business needs to move fastest.
By using Radium Advances to bring forward its expected R&D Tax Incentive refund, Southern RNA is able to access funding earlier and invest when it matters the most: to accelerate building its facility, support a world-first paediatric cancer vaccine trial, and ensure it can deliver treatments when patients need them most.
For Southern RNA Managing Director and co-founder Chris Peck, timing and flexibility are critical: “It gives us cash today to spend on the challenges of
today, and it also allows us to increase our R&D spend for the current period. This means our next R&DTI refund is larger.”
Today, Southern RNA is building Radium Advances into its capital strategy, reinvesting the funds into R&D to maintain momentum and move faster at critical moments.
For more information, visit Southern RNA’s website.
