The company was established in February 2009 to specialize in the development of delivery systems for nucleic acid therapeutics based on lipid nanoparticle (LNP) technology, a key component of the mRNA vaccines deployed for COVID-19.

[5] To improve the prospects of successfully advancing gene therapy techniques, Cullis developed and patented a new form of lipid nanoparticle designed to deliver genetic material to recipient cells.

[6] From 1994 onward, a series of patents were filed describing the technology Cullis and his colleagues created, including the addition of a chemical called polyethylene glycol (PEG) to further increase the LNP's ability to pass into cells.

[1] This led to its development of a viable lipid nanoparticle platform that showed promise for use in a variety of medical applications including chemotherapy, gene therapy and genetic vaccines.

However, Madden stated the company's annual revenues were "more than tens of millions of dollars" as of the end of 2020, having increased by 75% in the prior several years leading up to the COVID-19 crisis and expectations to grow by "at least that amount" through to 2022.

[28][29] In April 2022, Acuitas completed an agreement with Korean biotechnology company GC Biopharma to develop vaccines and therapeutics using their joint LNP-mRNA platform.

[33] Acuitas has partnered with several pharmaceutical companies and universities to collaboratively advance specific product candidates, as well as to support the broader development of the personalized medicine sector.