Could this be the moment that drug manufacturing takes off in orbit?
Summary
A private company named Varda Space Industries is using small, uncrewed spacecraft to make medicines in space, where the lack of gravity helps create better drug crystals. Varda recently partnered with United Therapeutics, a big drug maker, to develop new treatments for a rare lung disease using this space-based method.Key Facts
- NASA has studied how zero gravity affects drug development for many years, starting with the Space Shuttle.
- The International Space Station (ISS) allowed continuous research on how space conditions change medicine properties.
- In 2019, scientists grew a more uniform form of the cancer drug Keytruda in space, which could improve how it’s given to patients.
- Varda Space Industries launched its first spacecraft equipped with bioreactors in 2023 to make drugs in orbit without humans onboard.
- Varda’s spacecraft use reusable rockets, like SpaceX’s missions, which lower costs and increase how often missions happen.
- Varda and United Therapeutics will explore how microgravity changes drug crystal formation to improve drug stability and delivery.
- Making drugs in space can lead to medicines that dissolve better, last longer, need less cold storage, and may cause fewer side effects.
- Varda has a large pharmaceutical lab on Earth that tests many drug ideas before sending the best candidates to space for further development.
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