mRNA & the Search for Transformative Medicines, The Arcturus Therapeutics Story

This film is a story about the astonishing potential of mRNA and how it’s changed medicine forever, not just on the vaccine front, which is what most people think of, but how it also has the real potential to functionally cure 7,000 genetic diseases.

The film follows Arcturus Therapeutics, and it’s two founders, Joe Payne and Pad Chivukula, who 10 years ago, took their life savings, a mere $15,000, and developed a new type of mRNA technology, long before the pandemic, and long before mRNA became a household word. In just one decade they went public and launched a new type of mRNA vaccine in Japan.

But even more interestingly, Arcturus Therapeutics, in parallel to their vaccine work, developed mRNA as a therapeutic for two rare diseases, Cystic Fibrosis and Ornithine Transcarbamylase Deficiency, providing the potential of functionally curing both of those devastating diseases and 7,000 other genetic diseases. This type of technology and aim are in contrast to the pharmaceutical industry that simply suppresses disease, akin to putting a band-aid on the problem instead of getting to the root cause.

Our goal is that this film will express to the world that we can’t and shouldn’t underestimate the potential of what mRNA therapeutics means for medicine, the ability to essentially wipe thousands of diseases off our planet and ensure that our children and grandchildren never suffer as we have.