Lonza and Oxford Nanopore Technologies Launch Direct RNA Sequencing Solution for GMP mRNA Quality Control

• Nanopore sequencing combined with machine learning and dedicated workflows simplifies complex QC testing by measuring multiple critical quality attributes in one test
• Technology designed to support scalable, high quality mRNA manufacturing, accelerates the path to market for mRNA products and enables improved quality and control strategies
• Novel approach enables streamlined, multi-attribute QC release approach that supports the delivery of safe, high-quality mRNA products at scale.

20 May 2026 -- Basel, Switzerland, and Oxford, UK -- Oxford Nanopore Technologies, a company delivering a new generation of nanopore-based molecular sensing technology, and Lonza today announced the launch of a new technology approach designed to modernize and accelerate GMP quality control testing for mRNA therapeutics. The solution combines direct RNA sequencing using nanopore technology with bespoke machine learning-based data analysis and customized software intended to help close the gap between the rapid pace of mRNA innovation and the slower evolution of analytical methods.

mRNA therapeutics have transformed the development of vaccines and advanced medicines, yet quality control testing of these products often depends on complex, single attribute assays, multiple analytical platforms and long turnaround times. These legacy approaches increase analytical burden and limit flexibility across development and manufacturing. The newly launched approach is designed to simplify mRNA quality control while maintaining the rigor required for GMP testing.
Oxford Nanopore’s direct RNA sequencing enables native sequencing of full length mRNA molecules without amplification. When combined with machine learning, the technology analyzes large numbers of individual RNA strands to generate robust consensus data, thereby enabling multiple critical quality attributes to be assessed within a single workflow. The method is sequence agnostic and designed as a scalable, platform based solution across mRNA products.

By consolidating multiple analytical readouts onto one platform, the integrated workflow significantly accelerates sample to result timelines, with the potential to reduce testing from weeks to less than one day. Automated data analysis and reporting are designed to deliver consistent, QC ready outputs that support decision making across the product lifecycle.

Sönke Stocker, Executive Director of R&D mRNA and External Innovation, Specialized Modalities, Lonza, commented: “The launch of this direct RNA sequencing technology represents an important step forward in how mRNA quality control can be performed. By combining nanopore sequencing with machine learning based analysis, we are introducing a simplified, multi-attribute approach that better aligns GMP quality control with the pace and complexity of modern mRNA development, while maintaining the rigor required for regulated manufacturing.”

“By integrating Oxford Nanopore’s direct RNA sequencing into Lonza’s QC environment, we are enabling a more comprehensive and scalable approach to mRNA quality control,” said Francis Van Parys, CEO, Oxford Nanopore Technologies. “This collaboration demonstrates how multi-attribute sequencing can simplify QC and support more efficient biopharma manufacturing."

About Lonza
Lonza is one of the world’s largest contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs), dedicated to serving the healthcare industry. We work alongside a broad range of customers – from emerging biotechs to global pharmaceutical companies – to transform their therapeutic discoveries into life-saving and life-enhancing treatments for their patients. Our vision is to be the pioneer and world leader in the CDMO industry, setting the pace with cutting-edge science, smart technology and lean manufacturing. Founded in 1897 in the Swiss Alps, our business has embraced innovation and kept pace with a fast-changing world for more than 125 years. As the first and the original CDMO, we have been manufacturing medicines for more than four decades. Today we offer one of the largest Western CDMO networks with a global team of approximately 20,000 colleagues working across more than 30 sites in five continents. Our people are united by a common purpose: to turn our customers’ breakthrough innovations into viable therapies and manufacture the medicines of tomorrow. Discover more about our One Lonza strategy here. Our business is structured to meet our customers’ complex needs across three synergistic Business Platforms: Integrated Biologics, Advanced Synthesis and Specialized Modalities. Our services span from early development to drug substance and drug product manufacturing, and we lead in both established and emerging technologies including mammalian biologics, small molecules, highly potent active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), bioconjugates, mRNA, microbial, and cell and gene. Across technologies, we deliver integrated solutions to meet our customers’ needs throughout the entire treatment lifecycle. Our company generated sales of CHF 6.5 billion with a CORE EBITDA of CHF 2.1 billion in Full-Year 2025. Lonza shares are listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange and Swiss Market Index (SMI), with a secondary listing on the SGX Singapore Exchange. Visit: www.lonza.com.

About Oxford Nanopore Technologies
Oxford Nanopore Technologies plc was founded in 2005 as a spin-out from the University of Oxford. The company now employs more than 1000 employees from multiple disciplines including nanopore science, molecular biology and applications, informatics, engineering, electronics, manufacturing and commercialisation. The management team, led by CEO Francis Van Parys, has a track record of delivering disruptive technologies to the market. Oxford Nanopore has developed a new generation of DNA/RNA sequencing technology. It is the only sequencing technology that offers real-time analysis (for rapid insights), in fully scalable formats from pocket to population scale, that can analyse native DNA or RNA and sequence any length of fragment to achieve short to ultra-long read lengths. The pocket-sized MinION is a powerful and portable sequencing device that can deliver high volumes of long read sequence data. The benchtop GridION can run up to five MinION Flow Cells at a time, on-demand, for larger genomics projects. PromethION is the largest format for nanopore sequencing, designed to offer on-demand use of up to 48 Flow Cells - capable of delivering more than 10 Tb of sequence data in a full run, and is now being used in population-scale sequencing projects. The palm sized PromethION 2 makes high-output nanopore sequencing broadly accessible. To make the technology suitable for any user, we focus on increasing ease of use and automation. Nanopore sequencing offers easy and rapid preparation, including a ten minute library preparation kit. We also provide a range of analysis workflows. Visit: nanoporetech.com.