Inside Sensible Biotechnologies: Reinventing mRNA Manufacturing
How an Oxford-born, YC-backed startup is betting that cell-based production will define mRNA’s next decade.
Hi and welcome to Biotech Blueprint’s deep dive edition.
In this podcast episode, I sat down with Miro Gasparek, the CEO of Sensible Biotechnologies and Krishna Motheramgari, the company’s Principal Computational Scientist. We taped this on July 24, 2025, so any ‘last week/last month’ references map to late July. The substance is evergreen. Enjoy!
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In this week’s episode, I sat down with Miro Gasparek, CEO & co-founder of Sensible Biotechnologies, and Krishna Motheramgari, the company’s Principal Computational Scientist. We discussed why mRNA’s real unlock may be manufacturing, not new targets; Sensible’s cell-based approach to making cleaner, less immunogenic RNA; and how partnerships with NVIDIA and Sartorius are compressing design cycles (15 days → 1) and pushing toward clinical grade production. We also cover where this matters first (enzyme replacement, genetic medicines, and mRNA-encoded biologics) and what a fully integrated mRNA platform could mean for cost, scale, and access. The conversation isn’t just about process, but about whether mRNA can finally grow up from pandemic hero to industrial workhorse.
From hype to throughput
In 2021, mRNA was supposed to change everything. Then biology, economics, and fatigue hit back. Post-Covid, pipelines proved harder than the PowerPoints, investors cooled, and regulators got picky.
Sensible Biotechnologies, born in Oxford and YC-backed (S21), thinks the next breakthrough isn’t just in what mRNA does, but how we make it. Their cell-based platform aims to fix what traditional in vitro transcription (IVT) can’t: high cost, supply chain fragility, and the constant war against double-stranded RNA impurities. The incumbents stick with IVT because it’s proven and regulator-friendly. Sensible’s gamble is that a new manufacturing base could make RNA production as reliable and clinical grade as IVT, just far more cost efficient and scalable.
Sensible Bio and what they do
Sensible, founded by Miro Gasparek and Marian Kupculak, is building a cell-based mRNA platform to deliver cleaner, less immunogenic RNA than IVT at better economics. They’re pushing for clinical-grade output with Sartorius in 2026. The test is clear: match or beat IVT on release metrics, sustain it batch after batch, and satisfy comparability. Businesswise, they’ll operate as infrastructure manufacturing runs, sequence design, licensing, and selective co-dev, starting with enzyme replacement, genetic medicines, and mRNA-encoded biologics. IVT remains the validated standard. Sensible is trying to hit the same quality at lower cost and with more flexible scale.
The science edge
Most mRNA today is made by IVT: you mix a DNA template with enzymes and nucleotides, run the reaction, then clean up the product. It works, but the cleanup is heavy. You often get double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) that can trigger the immune system, you rely on costly reagents like capping chemistries, and you face supply-chain friction. The result is quality you can achieve, but only with time and money.
Sensible’s approach is to make mRNA inside engineered cells and let native cellular machinery do the transcription and modifications. The promise: less dsRNA, fewer immune alarms, and lighter downstream purification, which together could bring quality and cost into a better place.
What has to be true: their lots need to meet or beat IVT on release tests (especially dsRNA and related impurities), repeat that performance batch after batch, and show regulators a clean comparability plan. If they do, mRNA production becomes more predictable in both specs and timelines.
Why this matters now
Governments are back in the game on industrial policy, and biomanufacturing is the new semiconductor race. The U.S. and EU are funding biofoundries and pushing production closer to patients. If Sensible’s cell-based platform can hit clinical-grade in 2026, match IVT on release tests every batch, and show comparability while lowering COGS, the center of gravity shifts from a few bespoke IVT plants to smaller, flexible sites that make RNA where it’s needed. Businesswise, that looks like selling manufacturing runs, sequence design, and licenses, with selective co-dev where it sharpens the edge.
That’s the promise. But the road won’t be easy. IVT may be expensive, yet it’s proven, regulator-familiar, and deeply embedded in current manufacturing networks. For Sensible to displace it, the economics and the reproducibility have to be undeniable. Still, if they can pull it off, the payoff is real. mRNA production that’s faster, cleaner, and less centralized.
The pandemic proved mRNA can prevent disease. The next test is simpler and harder: can we make that code at spec, on time, at scale? If the answer is yes, mRNA stops being an exception and becomes infrastructure.
Have a great rest of your week and thanks for subscribing to Biotech Blueprint!
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The cell-based aproach to reducing dsRNA is fascinatig. If they can actually match IVT on release specs batch after batch, the economics shift becomes real. The comparison point you raise about going from 15 days to 1 day design cycles with NVIDIA feels like a different kind of unlock than just cost savings. The real test will be comparability when they hit clinical grade in 2026.