Capitalizing on space’s microgravity, the United Therapeutics–partnered Varda Space Industries aims to make medicines with better bioavailability and stability than Earth-produced molecules.
Varda Space Industries has raised $251 million to manufacture medicines in space for patients on Earth.
Lux Capital and Natural Capital co-led the series D round for Varda, valuing the company at $1.6 billion, Reuters reported on Wednesday. Varda, which was set up in 2021 by former SpaceX engineer Will Bruey and Founders Fund partner Delian Asparouhov, has now raised $598 million in total since its founding.
The California-based startup launched its first mission in 2023 and has completed six successful reentries. Varda has booked 28 launches with SpaceX and other providers between 2027 and 2029, Reuters reported on Wednesday. The support reflects the belief that Varda is “the first and only company delivering a real cadence of launches and reentries,” Shahin Farshchi, partner at Lux Capital, said in a prepared statement.
Space’s lower levels of gravity, which make objects seem weightless, influence crystal formation in ways that could affect drug properties such as stability and bioavailability. Evidence of the microgravity’s effect on drug molecules has fueled decades of research. NASA sponsored a report on the topic in 1978, and Merck’s space station research informed its subcutaneous Keytruda formulation.
With the cost of sending a kilogram to orbit falling 96% from 1960 to 2025 and forecast to drop further through 2040, one barrier to commercially viable drug production in space is lowering. Varda is among the companies seeking to capitalize on the shift.
The company launches its capsules into orbit aboard commercial rockets, such as SpaceX’s Falcon 9. The capsules contain equipment for processing pharmaceuticals in orbit. After completing processing, the capsule separates from the orbital satellite, returns to Earth and is recovered for analysis. Other groups have shown that a small quantity of space-grown crystals can support multiple terrestrial production batches.
In May, United Therapeutics partnered with Varda to develop improved formulations of treatments for rare lung indications. The pact supports the exploration of “how space-based manufacturing could contribute to significant improvements for rare pulmonary disease treatments,” United Therapeutics CEO Martine Rothblatt said in a statement at the time.
Varda and United Therapeutics have competition in the race to discover and make drugs in orbit. Space Microgravity Development (SpaceMD), part of the space and defense technology company Redwire, has given former Merck researcher Paul Reichert a strategic advisory role as it pursues orbital research and manufacturing. SpaceMD has signed a contract for a mission using Starfall, SpaceX’s recently launched in-space manufacturing program.
And Voyager Technologies operates research facilities aboard the International Space Station. The company’s capacity, which supports a microgravity-enabled drug discovery pact with Space LiinTech, will be enhanced next year with a system for automated drug screening.
