What is TAMARA?
Nanoparticle
& RNA-LNP
formulation system

TAMARA is an all-in-one microfluidic formulation system developed by Inside Therapeutics for the controlled production of RNA-lipid nanoparticles (RNA-LNPs) and other nanoparticle formulations including liposomes, PLGA nanoparticles, peptide and hybrid nanoparticles. The system uses microfluidic mixing to control the nanoprecipitation step, where lipids in ethanol meet an aqueous phase containing RNA, to tune nanoparticle size and PDI while maximizing encapsulation efficiency, recovery, and downstream biological performance. TAMARA replaces manual mixing and multi-instrument workflows with a single, reproducible, plug-and-play platform covering the full R&D volume range, from 200 µL screening runs to 30 mL preclinical batches.

TAMARA is used to formulate, optimize, and produce RNA-LNPs and other nanoparticle systems for research and preclinical applications. Typical use cases include rapid screening of lipid compositions and process parameters (TFR, FRR, N/P ratio) at minimal RNA input without losses to find optimal parameters, production of mRNA-LNPs for in vitro transfection and expression studies, and generation of in vivo-ready batches for mouse-to-NHP studies. TAMARA can be used for encapsulation of any RNA (mRNA, siRNA, saRNA, CRISPR-Cas9 coding mRNA…) but also DNA, RNP… It is also used for liposome and lipid nanoparticle formulations beyond RNA or DNA payload.

TAMARA is designed for academic researchers and biotech R&D teams working with RNA-LNP delivery systems. It helps streamline their RNA-LNP preclinical development. It serves both LNP specialists who need full control over formulation parameters, batch-to-batch reproducibility, and higher throughput than single-use cartridge systems can deliver, at a fraction of the cost per run, and researchers new to the RNA-LNP space, immunologists, oncology researchers, gene therapy teams, vaccine specialists, who want to formulate LNPs themselves without building in-house microfluidics expertise or relying on a dedicated external formulation team.

TAMARA is the only microfluidic system covering the full R&D range in a single instrument, from 200 µL to 30 mL, without switching platforms. This means you can run early-stage screening (200–500 µL) and scale directly to in vivo mouse studies (5–30 mL) on the same machine, ensuring you make the same nanoparticles (changing machine = changing made nanoparticles). Competing systems typically require two instruments, doubling equipment costs and introducing inter-instrument variability.

TAMARA uses reusable microfluidic chips. Each chip can be cleaned between runs using the integrated 4-step cleaning protocol and reused across multiple formulations, typically 10 to 30+ times for small batches. For a lab running several formulations per week, this can represent savings of up to €20,000 per year on consumables compared to single-use cartridge systems, while also removing supply-chain dependencies on disposable components.

TAMARA has no minimum RNA requirement. A standard 200 µL formulation run requires approximately 5–10 µg of RNA for in vitro screening in triplicate. For in vivo mouse studies (IM injection), plan 50–100 µg per batch. TAMAMARA can achieve up to 5mg of RNA per batch (depending on formulation parameters). TAMARA’s zero dead volume design ensures >90% RNA recovery, critical when working with custom RNA constructs that can cost >$1,000/mg. Use the RNA-LNP Formulation Calculator to plan exact lipid and RNA quantities for your experiment.

No. TAMARA is designed to be accessible to researchers without prior microfluidics or nanoparticle formulation experience. Pre-validated LNP formulation protocols based on SM-102 (Moderna-like) and ALC-0315 (BioNTech-like) lipid compositions are available as ready-to-use starting points, with matching LNP Starter Kits supplied so you can formulate from day one without sourcing lipids separately. Inside Therapeutics also offers a 1–3 day hands-on RNA-LNP training program covering formulation design, parameter optimization, and characterization, delivered at the Inside Therapeutics lab in Bordeaux or on-site. Researchers transitioning from electroporation, viral vector delivery, or lipofection are supported through the full workflow.

Yes. CRISPR-Cas9 co-encapsulation in LNPs has been validated with TAMARA. In a study at Université de Rennes / BIGRes-Inserm, TAMARA-formulated LNPs achieved ~99% B2M gene knockout in hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), comparable to electroporation , with less than 1% cell death (vs ~20% with EP), 10× less sgRNA per million cells, and ~99% cell viability. Unlike electroporation, LNPs formulated with TAMARA are compatible with in vivo delivery routes (IV, IM, SC, IT), making them suitable for translational gene editing programs.