Varda Puts Three Capsules in Orbit to Test Space-Made Drugs
The California firm now has three spacecraft in orbit at once. One is growing crystals of a possible cancer drug in microgravity.
Three washing-machine-sized capsules are circling Earth about 300 miles up, and one is growing crystals of a potential cancer drug. They belong to Varda Space Industries, which wants to run a fleet of orbiting pharmaceutical factories.
Varda's flight schedule
Varda has already brought several capsules back from orbit. It plans another seven missions in 2027 and 10 more in 2028.
Frequent flights matter for drug development, according to chief strategy officer Michael Reilly. Waiting a year between experiments, let alone 10, does not fit the pace of modern drug development, he said.
The California firm launched two capsules on one rocket on 1 October and a third on 20 October. It is the first time it has had three spacecraft in orbit at once. The other two are testing heat-protection materials and navigation systems for the hypersonic fall back through the atmosphere.
Chief executive Will Bruey said Varda is the first company to launch multiple commercial re-entry vehicles at the same time.
What has to be proved
Dr Meganne Christian of the UK's Satellite Applications Catapult says space manufacturing will not be viable for every use. The work has to be done again and again before anything reaches a commercially viable point, she says. Her view is that the capsules need to show that repeat performance.
Cost is part of the test: the benefits of making things in orbit have to justify the expense.
Regulators also have to adapt. In the UK, the medicines regulator MHRA is expected to publish a plan later this year on how existing rules apply to drugs made in orbit.
Other companies in orbit
UK-based BioOrbit recently sent a microwave-sized laboratory to the ISS as a step towards self-injected cancer drugs.
Cardiff-based Space Forge takes a hybrid route. It wants to grow semiconductor seed crystals in orbit, return them and use them as templates for growing larger quantities on Earth. Its ForgeStar-1 has shown some of the needed processes but has not yet returned a finished material. The company hopes to show the whole process before 2030.
What microgravity changes for crystals
On Earth, particles in a liquid sink under gravity, and density differences stir currents that can upset how crystals form. Christian says that without those effects, crystals can grow in a much more ordered way.
A drug's crystal form shapes its dissolving speed, its stability and the way it is given to patients. For some drugs this could mean a simpler injection in place of an intravenous infusion.
Semiconductors could gain too. Without gravity or air, crystals may come out purer and with fewer flaws.
Why a free-flyer, not the station
Experiments in microgravity have run for decades, mostly on the International Space Station. It has largely served to test scientific ideas, and it is due to retire around 2030. Dr Ryan Reeves of the ISS National Laboratory says it was not necessarily designed with manufacturing in mind.
Varda's craft, known as free-flyers, ride into orbit on SpaceX rockets with a miniature laboratory aboard. After the experiments end, the capsule detaches, drops through the atmosphere and comes down under a parachute in an uninhabited region.
No astronauts are needed. Christian says large-scale manufacturing calls for taking humans out of the picture, because people cause vibrations and require higher safety margins.
Our View
Three capsules are a demonstration, not an industry. The test is repeat performance: whether the same results come back flight after flight at a cost that makes sense for a drug maker. The regulator's planned guidance may show whether a medicine made in orbit can reach patients at all.
Source: The Guardian