The North American company Varda announced that it was successful in producing ritonavir crystals in space. Currently, people infected with HIV use the medicine during treatment.
In practice, the startup demonstrated the ability to maintain sensitive crystals in a stable manner even during the capsule’s fiery re-entry through our planet’s atmosphere. In this way, the experiment proves that the company’s technology can not only produce a medicine in space, but also bring it safely to Earth.
The company released the study of the achievement in preprint, that is, without peer review yet.
“Our process and hardware worked flawlessly during in-orbit operations, reentry and recovery operations… We successfully crystallized the metastable (less stable) form III in orbit and brought it back to Earth. We demonstrate process control and physical stability during reentry“, said Varda on X. See the ad:
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The startup launched its mini-laboratory into Earth orbit on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in June 2023. Two weeks later, it began working in an automated way on crystallization experiments in microgravity.
Last February, around eight months later, Varda managed to safely land the medicine produced in space. Review below:
Medicines in space?
The attempt to produce medicines in space is not new. For at least 20 years, pharmaceutical companies have been carrying out experiments on board the ISS (International Space Station). For example, giants like Bristol Myers Squibb and Lilly have already carried out some protein crystallization tests in orbit over the last year.
In the microgravity of space, it is easier to make certain crystals than on Earth. This happens because the space environment makes it possible to manufacture medicines in microgravity. In general, this is important during the crystallization process.
In many medicinesthe way in which some proteins are crystallized can impact aspects such as manufacturing costs, overall quality, stability and efficacy in patients. Furthermore, it can determine whether the medicine will be used as a pill or whether it will need to be administered intravenously.
Furthermore, in orbit, it is simpler to have control over the process.
It is necessary to speed up and make it cheaper
While the possibilities for drug development in space are impressive, they are also limited. As most of the experiments carried out so far have used the ISS as the main location for research, the costs of the process are very high and the pace is slow.
Varda emerged in 2020 with the aim of building reusable spacecraft to manufacture medicines in space in an automated manner, without the need for astronauts on board. With this, it intends to make the process cheaper, in addition to speeding up the delivery of products to Earth.
So far, the company has raised US$54 million (approximately R$269 million, in direct conversion) in venture capital. But following the success of its first demonstration mission, the founders say Varda is ready to manufacture medicines for customers on its platform.
However, the startup says that the next batches will be larger. Delian Asparouhov, one of the company’s founders, stated that one of the Varda ships can be optimized to produce ingredients for 200,000 doses of Keytruda. This medicine is used in chemotherapy to treat head and neck cancer.
