In 2018, Imperial College London entered into a partnership with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (“CEPI”) to develop a self-amplifying RNA vaccine platform (“saRNA”) to enable tailored vaccine production against multiple viral pathogens.
“The consortium aims to develop ‘RapidVac’, a synthetic saRNA vaccine platform, which will be used to produce vaccines against influenza, rabies and Marburg, with hopes to move these products to Phase I clinical testing in humans,” Pharma Times wrote.
In June 2020, a team at Imperial College London announced that it had developed a vaccine against covid that used “bits of genetic code (called self-amplifying RNA).”
“Once inside the cell, the self-amplifying RNA produces copies of itself, which can instruct the cell’s own machinery to make the coronavirus protein,” Imperial College said. “The muscle cells will then produce lots of the spike protein … Some of the proteins will be presented on the surface of the muscle cells … When the immune system comes across these tiny spikes, it recognises them as foreign.”
Imperial College completed Phase I and II clinical trials, but due to the approval and rollout of several other covid injections, the decision was made not to proceed with trials in the UK. Instead, the team focused their UK efforts on “developing self-amplifying RNA technology to adapt to new variants, to boost other vaccines and to be deployed against future pandemic threats,” Imperial College threatened in a January 2021 article.
Imperial College has also been working on saRNA vaccines for rabies, Chikungunya, Ebola, Lassa and Marburg. It has been a key pioneer in saRNA vaccine research, particularly through its collaborations with VaxEquity and AstraZeneca, but it is the US company Arcturus Therapeutics’ saRNA vaccine that has been approved for use in the UK.
On 2 January 2026, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (“MHRA”) approved Kostaive (also known as Zapomeran), a self-amplifying mRNA (“sa-mRNA”) covid vaccine developed by Arcturus Therapeutics, for use in adults aged 18 years and older.
Kostaive uses sa-mRNA technology, which includes genetic instructions for both the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and a viral replicase enzyme, enabling the mRNA to amplify itself within cells. The stated aim is to enhance immune response with lower doses.
As Pharma Phorum described it, “Unlike regular mRNA vaccines, sa-mRNA vaccines – as their name suggests – instruct the body to make more mRNA and protein to boost the immune response, rather than relying on a finite dose which results in protection waning over time.”
“It is administered as a single 0.5 ml booster dose by intramuscular injection into the upper arm … Once injected, the sa-mRNA in lipid nanoparticles enters cells, where it directs production of the spike protein. The immune system recognises this protein as foreign,” Pharmacally wrote.
Recognising a protein in our bodies as foreign is the problem. As Dr. Mike Yeadon explained in a video last month, making our bodies’ cells manufacture a foreign protein that our immune systems would attack results in autoimmune conditions, a self-to-self attack where our immune systems attack our own cells, thinking they are foreign invaders that need to be killed.
It would seem the vaccine industry is not satisfied with the effectiveness of mRNA vaccines waning over time, what they might refer to as “waning protection,” and so are seeking to extend the risk of autoimmune conditions through the use of saRNA “vaccines.”
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