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About Us

TriLink BioTechnologies, part of Maravai LifeSciences, is a best-in-class contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) for the synthesis of nucleic acids, NTPs and mRNA capping analogs. TriLink has scale-up expertise and unique mRNA, oligonucleotide & plasmid production capabilities for companies focused on therapeutic, vaccine, diagnostic and biopharmaceutical breakthroughs.  

Biopharma companies turn to TriLink as a critical supplier of modified nucleic acids and as a CDMO partner to help them move from early research into clinical trials. TriLink’s proprietary CleanCap® mRNA co-transcriptional capping technology simplifies mRNA manufacturing by removing additional enzymatic steps, resulting in high capping efficiency and improved yields over traditional co-transcriptional capping methods.

TriLink’s CDMO services offer a range of manufacturing grade products from discovery-grade (RUO) to its customizable intermediate-grade - GMPLink™ to full GMP-grade with scale-up and technology transfer expertise. With its recent facility expansion to increase cGMP capacity, TriLink provides support from initial research phases to the production of material for use in clinical trials. TriLink operates a quality system in compliance with ICH Q7, Good Manufacturing Practice Guidance for Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients, Section 19, APIs for Use in Clinical Trials, and ISO 9001:2015 standards.

TriLink, founded by Dr. Rick Hogrefe, Terry Beck, and Dr. Morteza Vaghefi, has been a pioneer in nucleic acid synthesis & manufacturing since its inception in 1996. With product and service offerings and expertise that have adapted to customer needs over the decades, TriLink remains committed to taking on challenges others simply will not. TriLink continues to expand its cGMP and general mRNA, oligonucleotide & plasmid manufacturing capacity at its new San Diego global headquarters to support therapeutic, vaccine and diagnostic customers.

Picture of TriLink Facility

Over 20 Years as an Industry Leader in Nucleic Acid Synthesis

1996

1996

Founded in May in San Diego, California. By year-end, TriLink moves into first commercial lab space, begins shipping oligonucleotides, and hires first employees.

1997

Obtains license to synthesize radioactive compounds. TriLink quickly becomes the industry leader and one of the only companies in the world to successfully manufacture radio-labeled oligos.

1997
1998

1998

First customer-written paper citing TriLink products is published in the Journal of Immunology by David Broide et al., Immunostimulatory DNA sequences inhibit IL-5, eosinophilic inflammation, and airway hyperresponsiveness in mice.

1999

Expands into nucleoside triphosphates. Cofounds Solulink®, a company focused on unique bioconjugation chemistries. Outgrows first lab and expands to Nancy Ridge site. First paper under TriLink corporate name is published.

1999
2002

2002

Company continues to experience remarkable growth and expands to a 40,000 square foot building that served as the corporate headquarters.

2005

Receives first of four SBIR grants for chemically modified primers and NTPs for improved hot-start PCR, the basis of the CleanAmp® product line.

2005
2006

2006

Proven pre-clinical oligo production leads to first alliance partnership with large therapeutic oligo CMO, enabling customers to easily transition from R&D to clinical trials.

2011

Leverages expertise with complicated nucleic acids and begins IVT production of long RNA and mRNA for use in pharmaceutical research and development. First patent for CleanAmp® is granted.

2011
2014

2014

Receives ISO 9001 certification. Opens state-of-the-art cGMP manufacturing facility and expands into mRNA and oligonucleotide therapeutics. Secures contract for synthesis of Ebola vaccine with Battelle. Awarded patents for proprietary CleanTag® technology.

2015

Publications citing TriLink products exceeds 6,000. Adds gram scale mRNA production and expands mRNA purification offerings. Launches CleanTag® Small RNA Library Prep kits. Cofounds ETAGEN, a company focused on gene editing technologies, with Tod Woolf.

2015
2016

2016

Strategic investment by Maravai LifeSciences.

2017

Launches CleanCap® - a patented mRNA capping method that makes remarkable improvements over existing technology.

2017
2018

2018

Receives ISO 9001:2015 certification.

2019

TriLink & Maravai move to new global headquarters. Space includes 105,000 sq. ft. facility space with 50,000 sq. ft. of custom manufacturing space, including 5 cGMP suites.

2019
2020

2020

Two patents granted surrounding CleanCap® technology. The patents cover capped trinucleotide primers and capped tetranucleotide primers not limited to any particular sequences.

Company Information

Year Founded:
1996
Number of Employees:
160+
Facilities:
Headquarters, San Diego, CA USA
Key Personnel:
Brian Neel, Chief Operating Officer
Brian joined TriLink with over fifteen years of experience as a leader in the life sciences and diagnostics industries. He has significant experience in a wide array of manufacturing operations in life sciences, and worked in chemistry and molecular biology-based operations with Life Technologies (acquired by Thermo Fisher) for over 13 years. Brian has a passion for continuous improvement in operations management, and has held key site leadership roles in organic chemistry, bioproduction, and enzyme purification technologies across organizations within 3 different states, including Synthetic Genomics and GenMark. He received a B.A. in Microbiology from the University of Missouri, Columbia.

Michael Houston, Chief Scientific Officer
Mike brings over ten years of experience as a leader in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries to TriLink. Mike worked as VP of Therapeutic Development and later as CSO at PhaseRx, where he developed mRNA-based therapeutics. Mike served as Vice President of Chemistry and Formulations for Marina Biotech, where he led a team in the development of siRNA based therapies and LNP-based delivery systems. He has significant experience in peptide-based therapeutics, as demonstrated in his role as VP of Preclinical Chemistry and CMC at Ascent Therapeutics. Mike also served as Senior Director of Chemistry and Formulations at Nastech Pharmaceutics. He received a Ph.D. in bio-organic chemistry and a B.Sc. with honors in chemistry from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. 

Ray Kaczmarek, SVP of GMP Operations
Ray joined TriLink with over 20 years of experience in pharmaceutical and biotechnology manufacturing and supply chain operations leadership, to include over 5 years of customer centric CDMO experience. He has significant experience in GMP operations managing organizations, projects, and programs that range from early phase I/II manufacturing to commercial launch and lifecycle management of commercial drug products. He received a B.S. in Biology from Virginia Tech.

Jeff Whitmore, VP of Commercial Operations
Jeff leads all commercial operations and strategy at TriLink with over 20 years of experience in life science commercial leadership and general management. Jeff served as President and Founder of United BioChannels, an international consulting group specializing in supporting companies in growth and market expansion phases prior to joining TriLink. Earlier in his career, Jeff held a variety of commercial leadership roles in life science companies including Singulex, Protein Simple, Alpha Innotech, Molecular Devices, Bio-Rad Laboratories, and Cargill Inc. He received a B.A.Sc. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. 

Contact for the Media:

Sara Michelmore
MacDougall
+1 781-235-3060
[email protected]

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