FARGO, N.D. & CORALVILLE, Iowa--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 16, 2026--
Danaher companies Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT), a global leader in genomics, and Aldevron, a premier manufacturing partner for DNA, RNA, and protein, today announced the launch of research grade S.p. Cas9 mRNA in wild type and Spy Fi™ high-fidelity formats. The new offering gives researchers and therapeutic developers access to high-quality Cas9 mRNA for CRISPR-based genome editing workflows, with performance, format flexibility, and manufacturing continuity designed to help advanced gene editing programs move from research toward development with greater confidence.
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“Gene editing researchers are under pressure to move faster without compromising performance, reproducibility, or flexibility,” said Christopher Vakulskas, senior director, applied science and molecular design at Integrated DNA Technologies. “By connecting IDT’s CRISPR protein engineering expertise, with Aldevron’s mRNA manufacturing capabilities, scientists will now have access to an optimized Cas9 mRNA offering designed to support efficient editing, reduced off-target risk, and greater continuity as their programs advance. It’s a strong example of how connected expertise across Danaher companies can help researchers reduce complexity and move promising science forward with greater speed and confidence.”
As gene editing advances toward clinically relevant ex vivo and in vivo applications, customers need CRISPR mRNA reagents that deliver reproducible editing performance, reduce technical risk, support emerging delivery approaches, and fit into programs that may ultimately need to scale. IDT and Aldevron’s co-developed Cas9 mRNA directly addresses these challenges through optimized constructs manufactured in consistent research grade formats, with a path to scaled CGMP-manufactured versions as programs progress.
Addressing a critical need in translational gene editing
The new offering is designed to support high on-target editing efficiency across multiple cell types, including T cells, iPSCs, and immortalized cells, while the Spy Fi high-fidelity version helps reduce off-target editing risk. The mRNA formats are compatible with delivery via electroporation, cationic lipids, and lipid nanoparticles (LNP), giving customers flexibility to select the approach that best fits their application.
The Cas9 mRNA is enzymatically capped, providing customers with a high-performing alternative to certain proprietary capping technologies. By reducing licensing burden and simplifying access, the offering helps researchers focus on advancing their science rather than managing licensing complexity.
Creating a more connected path from discovery to development
By introducing Cas9 mRNA as part of a broader IDT and Aldevron gene editing workflow, the companies are expanding the options available to customers who need reliable, high-performance research tools, scientific support, and continuity across CRISPR design, analysis, RNA manufacturing, and future scale-up. This launch is the first in a suite of co-developed offerings, with base and prime editors slated later this year.
With a rich history of working together to provide customers with critical tools and manufacturing support for genomic medicine workflows, IDT and Aldevron are building on that foundation to equip customers with a new mRNA modality option for Cas9-based gene editing. The solution combines IDT’s guide RNA design and analysis expertise and Aldevron’s mRNA manufacturing capabilities—the result is a streamlined experience for customers advancing Cas9-based gene editing programs from early research through CGMP manufacturing.
Visit www.idtdna.com/Cas9mRNA for product ordering, availability, and additional details.
Disclaimer: Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT) offers both Research Use Only (RUO) and In Vitro Diagnostic (IVD) products; Aldevron provides Research Grade (RG) and Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) products. RUO and RG products are intended for research use only and are not for use in diagnostic or therapeutic procedures. IVD and CGMP products are intended for diagnostic or clinical applications as specified in product documentation. References to clinical, diagnostic, or therapeutic impact pertain only to products with appropriate regulatory clearance. Purchasers are responsible for ensuring appropriate use and compliance with applicable regulations. For further information about product classifications and intended uses, please contact our regulatory affairs team or refer to product documentation.
About Aldevron
Aldevron is a premier manufacturing partner, producing high-quality plasmid DNA, mRNA, proteins, and other key components for the development of vaccines, gene and cell therapies, immunotherapies and other treatments. As a part of the Danaher Corporation (NYSE: DHR) family of global science and technology companies, Aldevron supports thousands of scientists who are developing revolutionary, lifesaving treatments for millions of people. To learn more about how Aldevron is advancing biological science, visit www.aldevron.com/about-us.
About IDT
Building from a strong foundation of innovation, expertise, and reliability, Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT) has evolved from an oligo manufacturer to a leading genomics provider. We work shoulder-to-shoulder with scientific and global health partners to enable genomics breakthroughs at scale. Our vision of enabling researchers to rapidly move from the lab to life-changing advances reflects our ongoing commitment to a healthier, brighter future for all.
For more information about IDT, visit www.idtdna.com and follow the company on LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Instagram and Bluesky.
About Danaher
Danaher is a leading global life sciences and diagnostics innovator, committed to accelerating the power of science and technology to improve human health. Our businesses partner closely with customers to solve many of the most important health challenges impacting patients around the world. Danaher's advanced science and technology - and proven ability to innovate - help enable faster, more accurate diagnoses and help reduce the time and cost needed to sustainably discover, develop and deliver life-changing therapies. Focused on scientific excellence, innovation and continuous improvement, our approximately 63,000 associates worldwide help ensure that Danaher is improving quality of life for billions of people today, while setting the foundation for a healthier, more sustainable tomorrow. Explore more at www.danaher.com.
Integrated DNA Technologies and Aldevron announce the launch of research grade S.p. Cas9 mRNA in wild type and SpyFi™ high-fidelity formats for CRISPR-based genome editing research. The co-developed offering combines IDT’s CRISPR engineering expertise with Aldevron’s mRNA manufacturing capabilities to provide researchers with optimized Cas9 mRNA designed for high on-target editing, reduced off-target activity with SpyFi™, and compatibility with multiple delivery methods.
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 16, 2026--
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260916811892/en/
RLS-1496 has already demonstrated efficacy in clinical trials for actinic keratoses and aging skin, and other skin conditions such as psoriasis and atopic dermatitis, generating novel human evidence demonstrating the dual SenoAdaptive mechanism that clears pathologic senescent cells and promotes a redox reset by modulating NRF2 pathways in stressed aged cells, including stem and progenitor cells. Ex vivo studies on a human hair follicles AGA model resulted in the restoration of hair follicle growth, as depicted in the image above.
In an independent ex vivo human AGA model — conducted using intact human hair follicles from male patients with AGA, challenged with dihydrotestosterone (DHT) to replicate the follicular miniaturization environment seen in AGA patients — RLS‑1496 demonstrated statistically and highly statistically significant increases in hair follicle elongation compared to vehicle control at 2 doses, respectively, with the highest dose showing a numerically greater trend in mean elongation than finasteride.
“The senescent cell biology underlying hair follicle aging is compelling, deeply consistent with what we have seen across our RLS-1496 program, and vastly underexplored as a therapeutic target,” said Rubedo Chief Executive Officer Frederick Beddingfield III, MD, PhD, FAAD. “For the first time, we are bringing a medicine into the clinic designed to clear the aged cells at the root of stem cell dormancy and follicular miniaturization. We are proud to do so in partnership with Dr. Pariser, and we are moving with the same urgency that made RLS-1496 the world’s first GPX4 modulator in human trials.”
AGA is the most prevalent form of hair loss globally, affecting approximately 50 million men and 30 million women in the U.S. alone; however, the treatment landscape has seen no genuinely new FDA-approved approaches in nearly 30 years. 2 The global AGA market, valued at $3.2 billion in 2025 and projected to reach $6.8 billion by 2035, is defined by two therapies — minoxidil and finasteride — that slow the hormonal signals that cause hair follicles to progressively shrink and degenerate, a process known as follicular miniaturization. Follicular miniaturization is the biological hallmark of AGA, in which each successive growth cycle produces a thinner, shorter hair until the follicle can no longer produce visible hair. Neither therapy addresses the senescent — aged and dysfunctional — cells now understood to accumulate within the follicular niche and drive this miniaturization at the cellular level. 3,4,5
Unlike existing therapies that target secondary hormonal causes of hair loss, RLS-1496 is designed to act on the primary cellular aging mechanism: the accumulation of senescent and stressed dermal papilla cells that actively suppress stem cells, follicular regeneration, and drive progressive miniaturization. By targeting these cells with selective elimination or functional restoration, depending on the cell state, RLS-1496, a first-in-class SenoAdaptive Drug, aims to remove the cellular brake on follicular regeneration itself. 3,4,5,6
Rubedo Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer Marco Quarta, PhD, will present the ex vivo data, along with additional RLS-1496 data, at the 13th Annual Aging Research & Drug Discovery (ARDD) Meeting at Harvard University, October 1–3, 2026 — the world’s largest dedicated longevity science conference. The presentation marks the first time a GPX4 modulator program in hair loss will be presented at a major longevity science conference.
Dr. Quarta said, “RLS-1496 appears to act at several convergent points in the AGA disease cascade — where we believe it acts by clearing senescent cells, suppressing follicular regeneration, reducing inflammatory SASP signaling, while also modulating NRF2 pathways and activating Wnt/β-catenin pathways governing anagen re-entry. To our knowledge, no approved AGA therapy operates at this level of biology.”
Rubedo’s proprietary ALEMBIC™ spatial transcriptomics applied to patient hair follicle biopsies identified senescence markers and transcriptomic signals consistent with activation of the follicular regenerative cascade, including the expansion of hair follicle progenitors, and downregulation of key drivers of the follicle regression phase — providing human clinical evidence that RLS-1496’s effects on senescent cell biology extend to hair follicle tissue. In preclinical animal studies, RLS-1496 also achieved approximately 32% greater hair regrowth versus vehicle. 1,6,7
“The preliminary data we have seen with RLS-1496 are scientifically intriguing and warranted clinical evaluation,” said Dr. Pariser, Professor of Dermatology at Eastern Virginia Medical School and Principal Investigator of Virginia Clinical Research, Inc., who will be leading the RLS-1496 hair loss clinical trial. “The senescence biology underlying AGA is increasingly well-supported in the published literature, and RLS-1496 represents a genuinely novel approach to it. I look forward to seeing what the data show in patients given the ongoing unmet need.”
About RLS-1496 and GPX4 Modulation
Rubedo’s lead candidate RLS-1496, being developed for topical and oral administration, is a first-in-class, disease-modifying GPX4 modulator selectively targeting pathologic senescent and other stressed, aging cells that drive chronic, age-dependent diseases. These include immunology and inflammation (I&I), dermatology and skin aging, hair loss, metabolic syndrome (obesity, diabetes, liver fibrosis), sarcopenia, and neurodegenerative disease.
In certain pathologic cells, aging is associated with an imbalance in GPX4. Modulation of GPX4 sensitizes cells to ferroptosis, which is a type of programmed cell death and is believed to be an Achilles heel of senescent cells. By modulating GPX4 in ferroptosis-sensitive senescent “aged” cells, RLS-1496 may be able to clear these cells to fight disease and also support healthy cells to function properly and restore tissue homeostasis. Beyond its targeted senolytic function in triggering selective ferroptosis within pathological senescent cells, RLS-1496 can also act as a restorative modulator that induces a vital ‘redox-reset’ through a controlled hormetic response in stressed neighboring cells, effectively clearing the source of chronic inflammation while actively re-establishing healthy tissue homeostasis. This dual-action mechanism represents a novel drug category—Adaptive SenoTherapeutics.
RLS-1496 uses Rubedo’s proprietary, AI-driven drug discovery platform ALEMBIC™, which identifies targets within pathologic senescent cells and develops selective cellular rejuvenation medicines for these targets.
About Rubedo Life Sciences
Rubedo Life Sciences is a clinical-stage biotech developing a broad portfolio of innovative selective cellular rejuvenation medicines targeting aging cells that drive chronic age-related diseases. Our proprietary AI-driven ALEMBIC™ drug discovery platform is developing novel first-in-class small molecules to selectively target pathologic and senescent cells, which play a key role in the progression of pulmonary, dermatological, oncological, neurodegenerative, fibrotic, and other chronic disorders, including hair loss. Our lead drug candidate – RLS-1496, a potential first-in-class disease-modifying GPX4 modulator – is currently in Phase I clinical trials. The Rubedo leadership team is composed of industry leaders and early pioneers in chemistry, AI technology, longevity science, and life sciences, with expertise in drug development and commercialization from both large pharmaceutical and leading biotechnology companies. The company is headquartered in Mountain View, CA, USA, and has offices in Milan, Italy. For additional information, visit www.rubedolife.com.
References
Figure Legend: Representative images of intact ex vivo human hair follicles challenged with DHT 100 nM and stimulated with finasteride 600 nM (positive control) or RLS-1496 2000 nM at Days 0 and 6.
