GreenLight Biosciences develops low-cost, scalable RNA products using a patented, cell-free bioprocessing platform to enable commercial RNA applications in agriculture and life sciences. The company aims to commercialize a pipeline of RNA-based agricultural biocontrols and expand into RNA-based therapeutics and vaccines. Its platform dramatically lowers RNA production costs, enabling products that previously were not commercially viable. GreenLight expects its first biopesticide to launch in 2022 and is pursuing a commercially available mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine. The company highlights applications across plant, human, and animal health and emphasizes environmentally friendly crop protection that avoids residues and spares beneficial insects. GreenLight Biosciences is a Boston-based biotech that specializes in producing messenger RNA (mRNA) for vaccines. The company is focused on scaling mRNA manufacturing capacity to support the creation of "billions of doses" of potential COVID-19 vaccines for trials and potential deployment. GreenLight is also developing several versions of its own mRNA-based vaccine candidates targeting SARS-CoV-2. Some of the new funding will be used both to expand production capacity and to advance those vaccine candidates. The article characterizes mRNA vaccines as a relatively novel approach that contain no actual virus and can shorten pre-clinical development timelines. GreenLight raised special-purpose funding to support these manufacturing and development efforts. GreenLight Biosciences develops RNA products for plant and life science applications, focusing on agricultural bio-control products and human and animal vaccines and therapeutics. The company collaborates with industry leaders and academic institutions to advance vaccine development, pandemic preparation, crop management, and plant protection. Led by Co-Founder and CEO Andrey Zarur, GreenLight is expanding its discovery and development capabilities across multiple segments. The firm operates Plant Sciences R&D in RTP, NC and St. Louis, MO. Management says the work spans a portfolio of bio-performance candidates for plant and life sciences. The company intends to accelerate development through existing partnerships and the newly raised capital. GreenLight Biosciences develops RNA-based products for agriculture using its Cell-Free Bioprocessing® platform. The company focuses on dsRNA molecules designed to directly target insect and viral pests in high-value crops while sparing beneficial organisms and minimizing environmental impact. It is also developing additional RNA offerings in public health, vaccine development and human therapeutics. Led by Co-Founder and CEO Andrey J. Zarur, Ph.D., GreenLight plans to use new capital to accelerate development and field testing of several dsRNA molecules and to build up its team. The company recently completed a Series D financing and is based in Medford, Mass. GreenLight Biosciences is a Medford, Mass.-based developer of a cell-free approach to microbial chemical production. The company builds a bio-based manufacturing platform to produce chemicals from renewable, non-petroleum resources. Its core technology focuses on cell-free production methods intended to enable cleaner, scalable chemical manufacturing. GreenLight is led by Andrey Zarur, Ph.D., Co-Founder, CEO and Chairman. Financially, the company completed a Series C financing in July 2015; the amount was undisclosed. The round included participation from both new and existing investors and was led by MLS Capital Fund II.

Total raised

$187M

Funding rounds

5

Latest round

Series D

Latest activity

Jun 2020