SAN DIEGO– Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc. (the “Company”, “Arcturus”, Nasdaq: ARCT), a global late-stage clinical messenger RNA medicines company focused on the development of infectious disease vaccines and opportunities within liver and respiratory rare diseases, today announced that ARCALIS Co., Ltd., its manufacturing joint venture in Japan to support the production of mRNA vaccines and therapeutics, has been awarded $115 million in two separate grants from the Japanese government. The grants will be used to fund the construction of a factory and the purchase of capital equipment to support current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) production of mRNA drug substance and mRNA drug product operations.
ARCALIS is a joint venture between Axcelead and Arcturus, wherein Arcturus holds a 49% equity position that is subject to dilution. The factory, located in Minamisoma City, Japan, is designed to provide cGMP integrated vaccine manufacturing, from mRNA drug substance to bulk nanoparticle-formulated drug product.
“It was an honor to welcome senior Japanese government officials and dignitaries to the opening ceremonies for ARCALIS’ state-of-the-art factory which will support the cGMP manufacturing of Arcturus’ next-generation STARR® mRNA vaccines,” said Pad Chivukula, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Arcturus Therapeutics.
Arcturus also announced today that the LUNAR-FLU program continues to progress with funding and operational support from CSL-Seqirus, including an additional $17.5 million milestone which will be used to fund flu program development activities. The LUNAR-FLU program utilizes Arcturus’ clinically validated next-generation STARR® mRNA platform technology.
“We are pleased with the progress of the LUNAR-FLU program with CSL Seqirus, our exclusive global licensee for the development of novel mRNA vaccines, and the significant role that Arcturus is playing in the development activities,” said Joseph Payne, President and CEO of Arcturus Therapeutics. “The LUNAR-FLU program could represent a major advance in vaccination efforts against flu, potentially providing higher levels of efficacy and greater durability compared to current flu vaccine approaches. We look forward to advancing this promising program.”
