Cirena secures Agilent licensing deal to unlock high-purity long RNA production
Cirena Inc., the Boulder, Colorado-based RNA synthesis company, has entered into a licensing agreement with Agilent Technologies, Inc. to access validated long RNA purification technology – a move that could significantly improve the consistency and scalability of synthetic RNA constructs used in genome editing and functional genomics research.
The agreement targets a well-recognised technical bottleneck in RNA synthesis: the progressive decline in chemical purity as RNA constructs exceed 100 nucleotides (nt) in length. Conventional purification workflows have long struggled to maintain adequate purity at these longer chain lengths, limiting the reproducibility of downstream appli0cations that depend on high-integrity RNA.
Purity constraints in long RNA synthesis
Synthetic RNA constructs in the 100–300 nt range are increasingly central to CRISPR-based genome editing, including guide RNAs (gRNAs) and prime editing guide RNAs (pegRNAs), as well as functional genomics assays. Synthesis-derived impurities in these constructs can directly impair editing efficiency and introduce variability in experimental outcomes – a particular concern for pharmaceutical and biotechnology research teams working in regulated or reproducibility-sensitive environments.
Agilent’s licensed technology addresses this bottleneck through an advanced purification approach validated for longer RNA constructs, achieving purity levels that are difficult to attain using standard industry methods.
“Agilent’s purification IP reflects years of foundational work aimed at overcoming the limitations of conventional long RNA purification,” said Thomas Redder, Associate VP of Global Strategic Business Development and IP Transactions at Agilent Technologies. “Licensing this technology to Cirena enables broader research access to high purity long RNA constructs that have historically been challenging to produce with consistency and scale.”
Integration with Cirena’s synthesis platform
Cirena’s RNA synthesis technology was developed at the University of Colorado Boulder by the research teams of Professor Marvin Caruthers and Dr Douglas Dellinger, and the company is headquartered at the BioFrontiers Institute on that campus. Its platform is designed to preserve sequence integrity for demanding applications including CRISPR, long non-coding RNA (lncRNA), and functional genomics workflows.
The integration of Agilent’s purification approach is intended to streamline production workflows and reduce turnaround times across these RNA types.
By integrating Agilent’s purification technology with our RNA synthesis platform, Cirena will address purity and scalability constraints that have limited routine production of longer RNA constructs,” said Doug Dellinger, CEO of Cirena. “For biotechnology and pharmaceutical teams, this enables more reliable access to high purity 100–300 nt RNA for genome editing, functional genomics, and other research workflows where experimental outcomes are sensitive to synthesis-derived impurities.”
Global supply for academic and commercial researchers
Cirena supplies RNA constructs to academic institutions, biotechnology companies, and pharmaceutical research teams globally, with applications spanning genome editing, oncology research, vaccine development, and gene regulation studies. The company currently operates an early customer programme through which researchers can request evaluation materials.
The licensed purification technology is intended to support routine production across length ranges that have previously presented significant purification challenges, offering more consistent performance in downstream research and translational applications.
For more information, visit: www.cirena.com
