- Specialization
- Biotechnology
- Business
- Biomanufacturing
- Market
- Life Sciences
- Ecosystem
- Not applicable
- Customers
Enterprisesand 1 more customers valuesLess
- Researchers
More details
- Organization type
- Commercial Company
- Ecosystem
- Not applicable
- Business
- Biomanufacturing
- Specialization
- Biotechnology
- Market
- Life Sciences
- Customers
- Enterprises, Researchers
- Delivery models
- Professional Services
- Revenue models
- Product Sales, Services Fees
- Listing status
- Not classified
- Latest equity round
- Seed
- Reported funding amount
- Not classified
About
Cisterna Biologics develops high-quality RNA products and custom RNA synthesis, including mRNA, for research and development customers working in diagnostics, therapeutics, gene editing, and vaccines. It differentiates through chemistry- and biochemistry-based production methods and its proprietary SPECC technology, designed to improve RNA purity, functionality, cost, and turnaround time.
Market
Cisterna competes in custom research RNA synthesis and early-stage mRNA manufacturing for biotech, pharmaceutical, academic, and therapeutic-development R&D. It positions itself as a specialized high-purity RNA provider, differentiating through SPECC, precise RNA 3′-end control, contaminant reduction at the source, and emerging yeast-engineered mRNA production rather than competing primarily on the broad end-to-end scale of established suppliers such as TriLink and Aldevron.
Cisterna primarily serves RNA-focused R&D teams at biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, academic institutions, and other life-science organizations developing mRNA therapeutics, gene-editing tools, RNA diagnostics, vaccines, and non-coding RNA applications. The likely buyers are RNA scientists, molecular-biology researchers, therapeutic-development teams, and process-development leaders needing custom, high-purity research RNA.
At a Glance
Problem
RNA is becoming central to mRNA medicines, next-generation vaccines, gene editing, and non-coding-RNA applications, but product-related impurities can reduce the purity and functionality of the material researchers depend on. Cisterna Biologics addresses this quality bottleneck by targeting impurities in RNA. The economic pain is the downstream cost of carrying unreliable material into experiments or therapeutic-development programs, although the available sources do not quantify the cost or savings.
The main use case is enabling researchers and biopharmaceutical developers to work with cleaner, more functional RNA for high-value applications such as mRNA therapeutics, vaccines, and gene editing. In these settings, better RNA quality can improve confidence in experimental results and development decisions.
Product / Service
Cisterna says it uses advanced technologies to deliver RNA with enhanced purity and functionality, and that its technology can eliminate product-related impurities in RNA. Its public positioning is therefore an RNA-quality product or enabling technology intended to provide researchers with higher-quality RNA rather than a therapeutic drug itself.
The available material does not specify the precise mechanism, whether the offering is delivered as a reagent, contract service, software-enabled workflow, or another format, or how customers are charged. The stated benefit is clearer: supplying high-quality RNA that empowers researchers and supports the broader RNA revolution across therapeutic and biotechnology applications.
Market
Cisterna competes in the biotechnology and RNA-tools market, serving researchers and potentially biopharmaceutical developers working with mRNA, non-coding RNA, gene editing, and vaccines. The supplied research does not identify a named direct competitor, so the most defensible comparison is against incumbent RNA-production, purification, and quality-control workflows rather than a specific company.
Cisterna was founded in 2022 and has publicly disclosed approximately $500,000 in early funding, associated with Y Combinator and the National Science Foundation. The available evidence does not provide customer counts, revenue, commercial partnerships, or product-sales metrics, so its revenue status cannot be confirmed; public traction is best characterized as early-stage financing and participation in the startup ecosystem rather than demonstrated commercial scale.
Founders & Leadership
Funding History
Y Combinator, National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Recent News
The NIH Awards by Location & Organization listing shows Cisterna Biologics, Inc. in Oceanside, California with two awards totaling $699,746.
Hari Bhaskaran and Cisterna Biologics appeared in ARPA-H’s public GIVE Teaming Profiles directory. The listing indicates participation in a teaming-opportunity program, but the available evidence does not establish a completed partnership or integration agreement.
Active Roles
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Get notified when they postBusiness Model
Cisterna appears to generate revenue by selling custom RNA synthesis and related RNA products to research and development customers. Its website uses quote-based ordering, with lower-cost published/database RNA and variable-cost proprietary or custom RNA, plus selectable quality, quantity, and amount options.