CasZyme and Cirena to Collaborate on Developing Longer Guide RNAs to Optimise Cas12l Performance
- Collaboration will combine CasZyme’s Cas12l nuclease with Cirena’s RNA manufacturing excellence to optimise editing
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– Collaboration will combine CasZyme’s Cas12l nuclease with Cirena’s RNA manufacturing excellence to optimise editing efficiency
– Output of the collaboration could prove highly relevant in CAR-T and LNP-based applications
VILNIUS, Lithuania and BOULDER, Colo., Oct. 26, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — CasZyme and Cirena have today signed an agreement that will see the two companies collaborate on further optimising the editing efficiency of CasZyme’s Cas12l CRISPR nuclease in human-relevant applications using Cirena’s synthetic 150-170 nt guide RNAs.
If successful, the work could improve editing efficiency of any resultant T-cell therapies (like CAR-T treatments), as well as other modalities relying on alternative delivery methods like lipid nanoparticles.
Natively, CasZyme’s Cas12l nuclease comes with many structural advantages over other Cas nucleases. It has a highly-distinct CCY PAM, stick-end cleavage overhangs and an incredibly clean off-target profile, relying on a long guide RNA of approximately 160 nt.
Organic guide RNAs are highly suited to the environment any Cas nuclease is isolated from, so to further enhance its editing capability in human-relevant therapies, additional engineering is required. This is where Cirena’s technology, which produces guide RNAs of between 100 and 300 nts in length at ≥90% purity, will be used.
Following the introduction of Cirena’s engineered RNA guides, CasZyme will measure on-target editing outcomes via next-generation sequencing, with additional benchmarking against IVT guides and assessment of lot-to-lot synthesis consistency.
“Cas12l’s ~160 nt guide provides a versatile architectural scaffold, but therapeutic translation requires scalable, reproducible, and chemically defined reagents,” said Giedrius Gasiunas, CEO of CasZyme. “Benchmarking Cirena’s high-purity synthetic guides against IVT in primary human T cells will define the purity thresholds needed to maximize Cas12l’s editing potential in ex vivo cell therapies. If successful, this collaboration could pave the way forward for much more efficient therapies that have a higher chance of succeeding in the clinic.”
“Producing long RNA as highly homogeneous full-length material becomes increasingly challenging as length increases,” said Doug Dellinger, CEO of Cirena. “Our long-RNA platform allows us to test whether guide quality can help support reliable Cas12l RNP performance. The whole team at Cirena is incredibly excited to be directly applying its technology to matters of human health.”
The collaboration includes RNP assembly optimization, guide-length testing, delivery into primary T cells, and quantitative editing analysis. Editing-efficiency and viability results are expected in early 2027. If successful, subsequent therapeutic applications will follow.
Media Contact
Barnaby Pickering
Director, 59 North Communications
Barnaby.Pickering@59north.bio
About Cirena
Cirena is a Colorado-based biotechnology company specializing in high-purity, long RNA synthesis (100–300 nt) for researchers in academia, biotech, and pharma, including the long guide RNAs required by emerging CRISPR systems. www.cirena.com
About CasZyme
CasZyme is a Lithuania-based CRISPR technology company discovering, characterizing, and engineering novel nucleases, including the Cas12l family, for research and therapeutic applications. www.caszyme.com
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