Tartu scientists develop new RNA vaccine platform
Monday 14th September 2026 on 13:45 in
Estonia
Researchers in Tartu have developed an RNA platform intended to simplify the production of RNA vaccines, ERR reported. If development proceeds well, the first vaccines using the technology could reach the market within a few years.
The project was led by Andres Merits, a professor of applied virology at the University of Tartu. He said it was the first attempt to apply RNA technology developed by Estonian scientists to vaccines.
In a traditional vaccine, the body receives an antigen, a molecule or group of molecules that generally triggers an immune response. An RNA vaccine instead delivers nucleic acid, based on which the body produces the antigen itself.
Merits said this makes the process simpler because scientists or pharmaceutical companies do not have to produce the exact antigen. RNA production is also more standardised, as similar technology is used regardless of the vaccine.
However, the technology also presents challenges. RNA does not enter cells on its own and must be delivered into them. Existing RNA vaccines are injected directly into muscle, while formulating a vaccine so that RNA reaches respiratory or intestinal cells is difficult, Merits said.
The aim of the research was to create a platform on which more specific vaccines could be developed. The technology also requires a smaller amount of RNA and is called taRVac, or a trans-amplifying RNA vaccine.
The platform could initially be used in preventive vaccines administered before illness develops, including vaccines similar to those used during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The new technology has moved beyond laboratory tests and can produce the particles needed for an actual vaccine. The researchers also found unexpectedly that laboratory reporters do not function in the same way as antigens. As a result, the most suitable RNA amplification system must be identified experimentally for each antigen.
Merits said the researchers had initially believed the system would not matter what it produced or under which conditions. They ultimately developed a solution that works with real antigens, he said.