Everest Medicines Announces AI-Driven mRNA Breakthroughs and Expands Pipeline in Cancer and Autoimmune Therapies

Everest Medicines Advances AI-Driven mRNA Platform, Strengthening Position in Next-Gen Therapeutics

Everest Medicines (HKEX: 1952.HK) revealed key advancements in its AI-powered mRNA platform during its 2025 R&D Day in Shanghai. The company outlined progress in building a fully integrated mRNA platform and shared updates on pipeline programs targeting cancer and autoimmune diseases.

This progress reflects Everest’s shift from a license-in model to a strategy combining in-house discovery with global partnerships and selective in-licensing. The focus remains on developing first-in-class or best-in-class assets in high-value therapeutic areas.

Comprehensive In-House mRNA Capabilities

Everest is one of a few biopharma companies globally with end-to-end internal mRNA development capabilities. Its platform covers AI-driven antigen design, mRNA sequence optimization, proprietary lipid nanoparticle (LNP) delivery tech, and GMP-compliant manufacturing.

The company’s LNP platform includes over 500 proprietary lipid formulations, backed by patents emphasizing ionizable and stealth lipids. This versatility supports delivery for vaccines and in vivo CAR-T therapies. Preclinical data confirm high efficacy and safety across multiple tissues, with both passive and active targeting approaches.

Clinical validation comes from Everest’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate, PTX-COVID19-B, which demonstrated comparable immunogenicity and safety to Pfizer/BioNTech’s Comirnaty in a global Phase 2 trial.

Pipeline Highlights Powered by AI+mRNA

• EVM16: A personalized mRNA cancer vaccine developed using the EVER-NEO-1 AI neoantigen prediction algorithm. It identifies patient-specific mutations to create customized mRNA sequences delivered via LNPs, stimulating targeted T-cell responses. Preclinical melanoma models showed strong antitumor efficacy and synergy with PD-1 inhibitors. The first patient dosing in an investigator-initiated trial began in March 2025, with early results indicating robust mutation-specific T-cell activation at low doses.
• EVM14: An off-the-shelf therapeutic mRNA vaccine targeting five tumor-associated antigens across multiple squamous carcinomas, including non-small cell lung and head and neck cancers. Preclinical data suggest it enhances immune memory and reduces tumor recurrence. The program has FDA IND clearance and is advancing toward Chinese IND submission. The first clinical batch was produced at Everest’s Jiashan facility in June 2025, expecting delivery to U.S. trial sites by mid-August.
• In Vivo CAR-T Program: Using a proprietary targeted LNP (tLNP) system, this approach enables CAR-T cell generation inside the body without lymphodepletion. Preclinical studies in humanized mice and non-human primates showed high T-cell transduction, strong CAR expression, and effective B-cell clearance. This method provides a scalable, off-the-shelf alternative with controllable dosing and improved safety for oncology and autoimmune applications.

Strategic Vision and Market Outlook

Everest’s AI+mRNA platform supports a growing pipeline with strong potential in cancer and autoimmune diseases. The company’s dual-engine strategy effectively combines internal innovation with global partnerships to accelerate asset development.

CEO Rogers Yongqing Luo emphasized the promise of personalized mRNA vaccines and in vivo CAR-T therapies to address challenges like poor immune memory and high recurrence in cancer treatment. He highlighted mRNA technology’s rapid design cycles, scalable production, and applicability across indications as key to advancing precision medicine.

Looking ahead, Everest plans to leverage its integrated mRNA platform to push forward cancer vaccines and mRNA-based cell therapies, while expanding global collaborations. The company is in talks with several top 20 pharmaceutical firms to accelerate worldwide development of its assets.

Everest anticipates that its mRNA platform, combined with strengths in nephrology and immunology, will drive growth through platform innovation, differentiated products, and focused market expansion. With three clinically validated assets and a patent-rich platform, Everest aims to strengthen its position as a leader in next-generation therapeutics.