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Partnership between biotechnology and space infrastructure companies expands research on drugs in microgravity, focusing on formulations for rare lung diseases and tests conducted outside Earth’s physical conditions.
Varda Space Industries and United Therapeutics announced a collaboration to study the use of microgravity in the development of drug formulations aimed at rare lung diseases.
Under the agreement, the companies intend to process small molecules on Varda’s orbital platforms, in missions to low Earth orbit, and then analyze the samples in terrestrial laboratories.
The initiative is part of a line of research investigating how pharmaceutical compounds behave outside Earth’s physical conditions.
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In a microgravity environment, factors such as sedimentation and convection currents are reduced, which can alter how crystals organize during the manufacturing of a substance.
According to Varda, this process can aid in the study of formulations with greater stability, bioavailability, and administration characteristics.
Why manufacture drugs in microgravity
The pharmaceutical industry’s interest in orbit is not solely related to the possibility of producing drugs outside Earth.
The central point is to understand if microgravity allows observing or obtaining molecular structures difficult to reproduce on the ground.
On Earth, gravity interferes with how particles distribute in liquids and suspensions.
During crystallization, these interferences can affect the size, shape, and uniformity of the crystals.
In microgravity, according to research conducted on the International Space Station, molecules can organize more slowly and uniformly, forming more ordered structures.
This difference is of interest because the crystalline structure of a substance can influence dissolution, stability, storage, and absorption by the body.
For the industry, these variables are relevant both in the development of new formulations and in the improvement of already known drugs.
In the case of the partnership between Varda and United Therapeutics, the first tests should involve small molecules related to therapies for severe lung diseases.
The stage announced by the companies is one of research and formulation, not the commercial distribution of drugs manufactured in orbit.
What will be done by the companies
United Therapeutics operates in biotechnology and focuses on treatments for serious diseases, including rare pulmonary conditions.
Varda, on the other hand, develops unmanned capsules capable of carrying payloads to space, conducting experiments in microgravity, and returning to Earth.
According to the companies’ statement, pharmaceutical processing will take place aboard Varda’s orbital manufacturing and reentry platform.
After remaining in orbit, the samples are expected to return to the planet for comparison with materials produced on the ground.
This comparison is an essential step in the process.
Researchers need to verify if microgravity produced measurable changes and if they are relevant for pharmaceutical development.
Without this analysis, there is no way to assert that a formulation made in space will have clinical or industrial advantages.
How Varda’s Capsules Work
Varda operates W-series vehicles, designed for short or medium-duration autonomous missions.
The capsules transport payloads, perform activities in microgravity, and then re-enter the atmosphere for material recovery.
The company’s first mission, called W-1, was launched in 2023 and returned to Earth in February 2024.
During this flight, Varda conducted an experiment with ritonavir, an antiretroviral drug used against HIV, and recovered the material after reentry.
Reuters reported that the company did not identify conversion of the original form of the recovered compound.
Other missions have been added to the company’s program.
According to Varda’s official page, W-6 was launched in March 2026 and had reentry announced in May of the same year, with payloads related to NASA and other government partners.
The recovery of samples is a significant part of the operational model.
For pharmaceutical research, it is not enough to send a compound to space; it is necessary to bring it back in conditions that allow chemical, physical, and structural analysis.
The Precedent with Pembrolizumab
Experiments with drugs in microgravity were already being conducted before the partnership between Varda and United Therapeutics.
One of the most cited cases involves Merck & Co. and pembrolizumab, a monoclonal antibody used in the treatment of different types of cancer.
Research conducted with support from the International Space Station National Laboratory evaluated the crystallization of pembrolizumab in microgravity.
According to the ISS National Lab, the experiments allowed the identification of conditions that generated more homogeneous crystalline suspensions with lower viscosity than controls produced on the ground.
These studies helped researchers refine terrestrial processes for obtaining uniform crystalline suspensions.
NASA reported that research with crystals on the space station provided initial information about the size and structure of particles used in the development of a subcutaneous formulation of the medication.
The approval of a subcutaneous version of pembrolizumab by the United States regulatory agency occurred in September 2025, according to NASA.
The case is cited by agencies and laboratories as an example of how microgravity research can guide pharmaceutical development stages, although the approved product depends on manufacturing and validation within traditional regulatory standards.
Space research still depends on validation
The possibility of formulating medications in orbit does not eliminate the steps required for any treatment.
Samples processed in space need to undergo quality, stability, safety, and efficacy tests before any clinical application.
There are also operational limits.
Space missions require launch, environment control, reentry, recovery, and transport of the samples.
These factors make the research more complex than conventional experiments conducted in terrestrial laboratories.
At the same time, private companies have started investing in their own platforms to expand this type of study.
In July 2025, Varda raised US$ 187 million in a funding round aimed at accelerating robotic drug manufacturing technologies in space.
Reuters reported that the funding increased the total capital raised by the company to US$ 329 million.
According to the same report, the company intends to use the resources to increase flight frequency and develop a pharmaceutical laboratory dedicated to formulations enabled by microgravity.
Varda also stated that its current vehicles could, in the future, be used to manufacture medications on a larger scale, but this possibility still depends on technical, economic, and regulatory validation.
What space drug production can change
For rare lung diseases, companies are interested in the possibility of studying formulations with better physicochemical performance.
This stage does not allow for the conclusion that there will be a new treatment, but it can indicate which compounds deserve further investigation.
The collaboration also shows how orbital research is starting to directly involve pharmaceutical companies and space infrastructure companies.
Instead of relying solely on experiments conducted on crewed stations, part of these studies is beginning to use autonomous capsules developed for manufacturing and reentry.
The upcoming results should depend on the comparison between materials processed in microgravity and samples made on Earth.
Only this analysis can show if the tested compounds present sufficient differences to justify new stages of development.
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