Exactmer Secures €2.5M EIC Accelerator Grant to Scale Nanostar Sieving® for Sustainable Oligonucleotide Manufacturing
Exactmer, a life sciences technology provider specialising in membrane-enabled manufacturing platforms for exact-sequence polymer therapeutics, has been awarded €2.5million (£2.18million) from the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator.
The 24-month OptOligo project will accelerate the scale-up and regulatory advancement of Exactmer’s Nanostar Sieving® platform, a fully liquid-phase synthesis technology, for scalable and sustainable oligonucleotide (oligo) manufacturing. The programme targets batch production of up to 200mmol (~1kg) and will advance the technology to meet regulatory standards required for GMP deployment at customer manufacturing sites.
The project will build directly upon the success of Exactmer’s earlier EIC Transition project, AltOligo, which was used to develop alternative oligo synthesis chemistries. Now, OptOligo will accelerate this innovation to commercial realisation.
A Scalable and Sustainable Liquid-Phase Platform for Oligo Synthesis
Nanostar Sieving® integrates scalable, liquid-phase chemistry, with Exactmer’s proprietary organic solvent nanofiltration membranes, enabling efficient purification of the growing sequence-defined polymer, and removal of reaction by-products, directly within the synthesis process.
Operating entirely in solution, the platform delivers significant advantages:
- Reduced reagent consumption: <1.2equivalents used in phosphoramidite oligo chemistry, a ~33% reduction in costs and waste compared to solid-phase synthesis
- Up to 60% lower solvent use: with Exactmer’s proprietary in-process solvent recycling loop enabling filtration and reuse of virgin solvents within a single cycle
- Elimination of halogenated solvents
- Improved safety through closed-loop membrane separations, which can be retrofitted to existing pharma manufacturing assets
- Inherent scalability to kilogram-scale batches
This membrane-enabled approach provides a more efficient and environmentally responsible route to oligo manufacture, supporting the growing global demand for oligo therapeutics.
Unique Membrane Technology Enabling GMP at Customer Sites
At the heart of Nanostar Sieving® are Exactmer’s proprietary Exact™ membranes, developed from more than a decade of research in organic solvent nanofiltration from the Livingston Lab at Imperial College London.
Through OptOligo, Exactmer will further optimise, industrialise, and qualify these unique membranes to meet regulatory requirements for GMP manufacturing. The company’s strategy is to enable validated Nanostar Sieving technology to be implemented directly within customers’ facilities and at Contract Development and Manufacturing Organisations (CDMOs). By 2030, at least six oligo medicines are expected to be approved for prevalent diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and hepatitis, with each one requiring an estimated 500 kg per year of drug substance. Current solid-phase synthesis is limited by batch size, with global manufacturing capacity for these medicines capped at approximately 200 kg per year, for all drugs. This demonstrates how impactful Exactmer’s scalable platform can be, and how timely the sustainable OptOligo innovation will be.
By ensuring membrane robustness, reproducibility, and regulatory readiness, Exactmer aims to provide pharmaceutical manufacturers with a deployable, scalable platform for therapeutic production.
Unlocking Broader Polymer Therapeutics Applications
While OptOligo focuses on oligo production, advancing Nanostar Sieving® also expands its potential across Exactmer’s wider portfolio. The platform is applicable to the manufacture of Exact PEGs for precision PEGylation, multifunctional antibody–drug conjugate (ADC) linkers, peptide therapeutics, and other advanced polymer-based medicines requiring exact sequence control.
Professor Andrew Livingston, CEO of Exactmer, commented:
“This award recognises the transformative potential of our Nanostar Sieving® technology. As a life sciences technology provider, our goal is to equip pharmaceutical manufacturers with scalable and sustainable production platforms for advanced therapeutics.
By operating fully in the liquid phase, Nanostar Sieving reduces reagent use, eliminates halogenated solvents, and enables safer, inherently scalable manufacturing. Through this grant, we will further advance and qualify our unique membrane technologies to meet regulatory standards and enable GMP manufacturing directly within our customers’ facilities. In doing so, we are strengthening not only the future of oligonucleotide production, but also broader applications across PEGylation, ADC linkers, peptides, and other exact-sequence polymer medicines.
Its such a pleasure that we have been able to follow the whole innovation path from an ERC Advanced Grant, through Proof of Concept and Transition Grants, to an Accelerator and I am very grateful for the ERC/EIC Innovation system support”
The EIC Accelerator supports start-ups and SMEs with grant funding of up to €2.5million, to scale-up their market-disruptive or game-changing products and innovation.
Exactmer is one of 61 companies selected in the latest EIC Accelerator funding round — and one of only five UK companies — to receive this highly competitive support.
