Space startup raises millions to make ‘impossible’ drugs that Earth’s gravity won’t allow
Varda Space Industries has raised $187 million in its latest funding round, the company explained in a press release on Thursday, July 10.
The funding round, led by Natural Capital and Shrug Capital, will help Varda Space develop drugs in space. The company claims that its tecchnology harnesses space conditions to develop “novel drug formulations that would otherwise be impossible.”
Varda Space’s microgravity drug development
The new funding round brings Varda’s total funding raised to $329 million. The latest round included participation from billionaire Peter Thiel, Lux Capital, and the Founders Fund.
“With this capital, Varda will continue to increase our flight cadence and build out the pharmaceutical lab that will deliver the world’s first microgravity-enabled drug formulation,” Varda Space CEO Will Bruey explained in its press statement.
Varda Space is aiming to develop medicine that would be impossible on Earth, the company said. Active pharmaceutical materials and other materials crystallize differently in microgravity conditions.
According to a CNN report from 2023, one example comes from research carried out by pharmaceutical firm Merck aboard the International Space Station. The researchers found that microgravity conditions in space allowed for a more stable version of the active ingredient pembrolizumab. This ingredient is used in the cancer drug Keytruda.
The company also claims its space vehicles will eventually be able to mass manufacture drugs in space.
“When you think about mass manufacturing, it doesn’t necessarily mean that we need to scale up by 1000x in terms of size of vehicle,” said Delian Asparouhov, cofounder of Varda Space Industries.
“Our current vehicles can bring back on the order of 50 kilograms (110 pounds) of active pharmaceutical ingredient. For the sets of drugs that we’re working on, for some of them, that can be like a full batch size — that is quarterly production.”
The first to process materials outside the ISS
To date, Varda Space has flown three successful launch and return missions. A fourth mission is currently in orbit, and a fifth is expected to launch later this year.
During its first mission, W-1, Varda grew crystals of the anti-HIV drug ritonavir inside a space vehicle flying in low Earth orbit.
“Varda’s orbital laboratories are the first to process materials outside the International Space Station (ISS) and mark the beginnings of commercial expansion into low Earth orbit,” the company explained in its statement.
Varda Space, a California-based startup, was founded by ex-SpaceX avionics engineer Will Bruey and Delian Asparouhov of Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund.
The company recently expanded its operations with a new office in Huntsville, Alaska, and a lab in El Segundo, California. According to a report from Reuters, the company will use that lab to crystallize biologic drugs and work on improving their formulation.
Source: Interesting Engineering
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Space startup raises millions to make ‘impossible’ drugs that Earth’s gravity won’t allow