Cisterna Biologics YC Application

Summer 2022Active

Cisterna Biologics went through Y Combinator in the Summer 2022 batch as a Healthcare company. Below: what the company does, who founded it, and its application to YC, reconstructed question by question in the real YC form.

YC batch: Summer 2022
Industry: Healthcare
Team size: 2
Status: Active
Launched: 2022

Founders

Hari BhaskaranFounder

What Cisterna Biologics does

Founded in 2022 and based in San Diego, California, Cisterna Biologics is a technology company. It aims to solve some of the challenges currently facing the biotech industry to develop mRNA-based therapeutics - quality, quantity, longevity and cost of mRNA. As mRNA technology matures, it becomes imperative that these issues are solved so we can fully explore mRNA's endless possibilities as a therapeutic. Cisterna uses proprietary technologies to either remove a contaminant at its source or replace the source itself. For example, to remove double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), we use ribozymes - molecular scissors - to precisely cut the mRNA at its 3’ end. This assures not only 3’ homogeneity, but also eliminates dsRNA, which are primarily produced due to self-templated additions at the 3’ end. Utilizing a PCR-like system to amplify the DNA template in large quantities eliminates the requirement for plasmid enrichment in bacteria, the prime source of endotoxin contamination. These are just a few examples of Cisterna’s powerful technologies being used to achieve our goal of 10x higher quality mRNA for therapeutic application.

Cisterna Biologics's YC application, reconstructed

Y Combinator application

Cisterna Biologics, Summer 2022 batch. The real form questions, answered from public data.

Founders2
Company7
Progress7
Idea4
Equity3
Curious2
Batch Preference1

Company

Company name

Cisterna Biologics

Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less.

High quality mRNA for therapeutic use

What is your company going to make? Please describe your product and what it does or will do.

We make mRNA optimized for therapeutic use by solving challenges around quality, quantity, longevity, and cost. Our platform removes contaminants like double-stranded RNA using ribozymes to cut precisely at the mRNA 3' end, ensuring purity and consistency. We also replace bacterial plasmid amplification with a PCR-based system to eliminate endotoxin contamination and scale DNA templates efficiently. This leads to mRNA of substantially higher quality for drug developers tackling diseases amenable to mRNA therapy.

Where do you live now, and where would the company be based after YC?

We live and operate out of San Diego, CA, where the company is also based. After YC, we'd stay here to keep close ties to the biotech ecosystem and our team.

Explain your decision regarding location.

San Diego's biotech community suits our focus on synthetic biology and mRNA therapeutics. It has the scientific talent and lab access we need to keep pushing quality and manufacturing innovations. Relocating after YC would disrupt progress.

21 more answers in the full application

Founders, Progress, Idea, Equity, Curious, Batch Preference are in the full version. Create a free account to open it in YC Insights, next to every other YC batch.

See full application

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this the real Cisterna Biologics YC application?

No. Y Combinator keeps submitted applications private. This is a reconstruction: the real YC form questions, answered from Cisterna Biologics's public data (launch notes, founder backgrounds, product description). It shows how a company like Cisterna Biologics would present itself to YC, not the text they submitted.