Flagship Application
Upstream Synthesis
Oligonucleotide Synthesis
Nanostar Sieving® has demonstrated success on one of the toughest challenges in upstream oligonucleotide synthesis.
One of several applications built on our OSN membrane platform.
The Technology
Watch: Process Video · 1:02
Nanostar Sieving® — Process Video
Nanostar Sieving® — the next generation of polymer synthesis in liquid phase
Where liquid phase polymer synthesis and our advanced membranes meet, to enable superior manufacturing of advanced therapeutics.
How it works
The Nanostar Sieving® platform is built on Organic Solvent Nanofiltration separation, using our proprietary Exact-10™ membranes. It allows synthesis of exact polymer pharmaceuticals fully in liquid phase, using a single solvent mixture, without precipitation or extraction steps.
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A first monomer is attached to a central hub molecule, creating a "nanostar" with enhanced molecular size.
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Further monomers are added iteratively, with the growing polymer purified at every step via purpose-designed nanomembrane filtration.
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Separation happens purely by molecular size, so the platform is chemistry-agnostic and slots into our semi-automated Nanostar Synthesiser.
Why Nanostar Sieving®
The Advantage of the Nanostar Sieving™ Platform for Oligonucleotide Synthesis
Scroll to see all six →
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Cost-effective manufacturing
Reduced solvent, lower amidite equivalents
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Unprecedented scalability
Highly scalable liquid phase process
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Chemistry agnostic platform
Various chemistries — P(III), P(V), fragments
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Highly flexible and compatible
Integrates into existing manufacturing assets
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Reduced environmental impact
Solvent recycling, fewer acids, greener reagents
✓
Ergonomic and efficient
No heavy resin columns, less manual handling
What are oligonucleotides?
Oligonucleotides are short chains of 13–25 nucleotides — the same building blocks that make up DNA and RNA. Because they bind precisely to complementary nucleic acid sequences, they’re used as tools to treat disease by modulating gene expression, and as primers for research applications like DNA amplification.
1 Nucleotide
1Phosphate
2Base
3Sugar
2Base
3Sugar
How an oligonucleotide drug works
Many oligonucleotide therapeutics work by binding directly to the messenger RNA (mRNA) that would otherwise be translated into a disease-causing protein — stopping the harmful protein from ever being made.
Disease-causing mRNA
A faulty or overactive gene produces mRNA that codes for a harmful protein.
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Oligo binds by base pairing
The therapeutic oligo matches and binds the target mRNA sequence exactly.
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Protein is never made
Bound mRNA is degraded or blocked from translation, silencing the gene.
Shared mechanism for ASOs, siRNA and miRNA. saRNA works in reverse — increasing rather than silencing expression.
The Bottleneck in Oligonucleotide Therapeutics Manufacturing
Oligonucleotide therapeutics have proven transformative for rare diseases. Now, drugs targeting prevalent conditions — cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s, Hepatitis B — are advancing through trials, promising the same precision for a far larger patient population. But solid phase synthesis, the industry standard, wasn’t built for that scale.
01
Manufacturing Cost
Existing solid phase methods carry high reagent and solvent costs, which don’t scale down favourably for large-scale manufacturing.
02
Capacity Constraints
Solid phase infrastructure is optimised for small-batch, rare-disease production — not the tonnes-per-year scale prevalent diseases require.
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Expanding Patient Populations
As more prevalent-disease targets reach late-stage trials, the industry needs a synthesis platform built for scale from the outset.
Types of Oligonucleotides
↓ Silences
Single-stranded · 15–25 nt
ASO
Alters mRNA expression — preventing disease-causing proteins, degrading mRNA, or modifying splicing.
Read more
ASOs target and alter mRNA expression precisely, by preventing disease-causing proteins, degrading mRNA, or modifying RNA splicing.
↓ Silences
Double-stranded · 20–25 bp
siRNA
Silences genes through RNA interference (RNAi), degrading complementary mRNA.
Read more
siRNA is a double stranded, non-coding short RNA molecule, typically 20–25 base pairs, regulating gene expression through RNAi.
↓ Silences
Single-stranded
miRNA
Represses translation by binding target mRNA, regulating gene expression.
Read more
miRNA is a single stranded, non-coding short RNA molecule with a gene silencing mechanism via translational repression.
↑ Activates
Double-stranded · the exception
saRNA
Increases rather than silences gene expression, by binding gene promoters.
Read more
saRNA is double stranded and non-coding, regulating gene expression by binding promoters to stimulate transcription — increasing rather than silencing genes.
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