Indian Biotech Startup Claims To Offer Personalised Cancer Vaccines

An Indian biotech company might have just revolutionised cancer treatment in the country. Launched in 2021, Hyderabad-based PopVax on Friday (Oct 30) unveiled RNA Foundry, a specialised research, development, and manufacturing facility that aims to deliver personalised cancer vaccines to patients. Soham Sankaran, founder of PopVax, took to social media to announce the development, highlighting that making mRNA medicine of high quality was not an easy task.

Most big pharma companies manufacture cancer vaccines in a standardised way for entire populations, but PopVax is hoping to build custom-tailored medicine for each individual's unique biological, genetic or disease makeup.

"Personalised RNA cancer vaccines have the potential to transform cancer care. But research, development, and manufacturing for these medicines is not widely available to those that need them the most. Over the last four years at PopVax, we've learned that making RNA medicines to a high standard of quality is not easy," said Soham Sankaran, founder of PopVax.

The state-of-the-art facility utilises PopVax's proprietary mRNA platform and fridge-stable lipid nanoparticle formulation, aligning with global Good Manufacturing Practices. Unlike conventional vaccines, mRNA vaccines instruct cells to make a harmless viral protein, training the immune system without injecting any form of the virus.

"At the RNA Foundry, we're making these capabilities available to everyone using the same mRNA platform and fridge-stable lipid nanoparticle formulation we built for our own vaccines at PopVax," he said.

"The RNA Foundry is a full-stack research, development, and manufacturing facility in Hyderabad, India, built to align with global Good Manufacturing Practices for new medicines. This is the same facility where we manufactured our first mRNA vaccine candidate, which entered clinical trials in Australia in August."

PopVax said it was committing to making more than 100 personalised cancer vaccines in the next 12 months. The company is requesting people to email them their cancer type/stage and sequencing details to develop vaccines on a case-by-case basis.

Check The Post Here:

Launching https://t.co/hOMqgHwRsK – we manufacture personalized cancer vaccines. https://t.co/atFiAKBlGJ

— Soham Sankaran (@sohamsankaran) October 30, 2026

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'Kind Of Deeptech Innovation We Need'

Social Media users were impressed by the announcement and wished Sankaran's team the best in their pursuit of finding personalised solutions to cancer.

"Kids in India are solving cancer, guys. The deep tech ecosystem in India is still in its nascence. I can't wait for it to mature," said one user while another added: "Man people really underestimate how difficult it is to build and run a lab. This is the kind of deeptech innovation that is going to make India an R&D hub."

A third commented: "I don't think people realise how big a deal this is. If you have cancer, or somebody you know has cancer, there is a company in Hyderabad that wants to build a personalised cancer vaccine for you."

A fourth said: "Personalised cancer vaccine era is just getting started, and soon it could become normal. An Indian biotech startup, PopVax, is building something fascinating."