Varda's drug-cooking Winnebago will be remembered as a space pioneer

https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/02/vardas-drug-cooking-winnebago-will-be-remembered-as-a-space-pioneer/

by PaulHoule • 2 years ago

43 28 2 years ago

mikeodds• 2 years ago

anyone have an example comparison of the economics of manufacturing Drug A on earth vs in space with launch and reentry costs included? Is the yield improved that much for certain pharmaceuticals? Is it because we can just yeet waste substances towards the sun?

colechristensen2• 2 years ago

Is it because we can just yeet waste substances towards the sun?

It is actually quite expensive to get to the sun.

LoganDark2• 2 years ago

You don't have to get to the sun. They said "towards" the sun.

stavros• 2 years ago

How come? Don't you "just" have to escape the earth's gravity?

MaxLeiter• 2 years ago

The article mentions increased yield, but from what I can find on their website its mostly about the different crystal structures that result from zero g

https://www.varda.com/biopharma#business-benefits

rasmus1610• 2 years ago

https://www.notboring.co/p/varda-the-space-drug-factory

This might be an interesting read. Can highly recommend this article

KennyBlanken2• 2 years ago

It's absurdly energy-intensive to get something to fall into the sun, so there would be no point unless it was too dangerous to have on earth. If that were true, then the risk of launch failure, failure to enter and leave orbit, etc would be too great.

XorNot• 2 years ago

It's worth also qualifying that the opposite: leaving the solar system entirely - is actually less delta-V intensive to do. If you want to get something to leave and not come back, shooting it out of the solar system is the better plan.

wtracy• 2 years ago

It looks like improved yield, but also there's the possibility of producing a product that has different properties than that produced on earth.

If, for example, the larger ritonavir crystals they can produce in space produce a dramatically more effective treatment, somebody's going to be interested in paying a premium for that.

nyanpasu642• 2 years ago

Is this related to ritonavir's multiple crystal structures (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritonavir#Polymorphism_and_tem...)?

krasin• 2 years ago

I would like to quote this comment from an earlier discussion on HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39544442.

Perfect crystals. Also, the proof-of-concept drug was ritonavir, and it's nearly impossible to consistently grow large crystals of it on Earth. All of the labs that work with ritonavir are contaminated by a more stable form ("polymorph") that rapidly converts any ritonavir crystals into a less-useful form.

In short: yes, you're correct, but I am just parroting somebody else; personally, I posses no actual knowledge of chemistry involved.

nyanpasu642• 2 years ago

Is the lab in space not contaminated with the same undesirable crystals?

KennyBlanken2• 2 years ago

Varda lost multiple opportunities to do re-entry because the feds couldn't get their shit together for a year+....

...and meanwhile Richard Branson didn't abort a launch when there was a malfunction that caused his craft to massively miss the re-entry flight plan, thus endangering commercial and private aviation. The FAA took less than a month to investigate Virgin's fuckup and said "whatevs, it's cool, just change a few things": https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/29/faa-clears-virgin-galactic-f...

It goes to show how the emperor has no clothing when it comes to romanticising space exploration as being this matter of science, knowledge, wonder, etc. Space isn't about any of that as far as the government is concerned. It's about military applications and letting rich people do what they want.

zabzonk• 2 years ago

anyone know if varda is named after the queen of the stars in tolkien's works? i couldn't find anything on their webpage.

carlob2• 2 years ago

When I clicked I thought it was all an elaborate Breaking Bad reference, but that's Varga with a G.

prawn• 2 years ago

I'd also misremembered a TV Varga, but it was this one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V._M._Varga

Reality though: "This was the first in a series of missions Varda plans to build and launch. Varda calls this design the Winnebago series, designed to bring pharmaceutical research specimens back to Earth for laboratory analysis and eventual commercial exploitation. This satellite launched on June 12 on a SpaceX rideshare mission, and less than three weeks later, it completed a pioneering drug manufacturing experiment."

aussieguy1234• 2 years ago

I think the sub heading is less misleading. "A small capsule containing pharmaceuticals made in space landed in Utah last week".

fragmede• 2 years ago

I clicked on the link imagining some sort of Walter White situation, not knowing what Varda's Winnebago was, so I agree the sub heading is less misleading.

wkat4242• 2 years ago

The only space Winnebago that comes to mind when reading this is Lone Starr's lol. I wonder if that influences the naming of the projects. After all SpaceX names their barges after scifi vessels too.

whoitwas• 2 years ago

Very odd title and the story takes a while to get into it.

Varda's drug-cooking Winnebago will be remembered as a space pioneer

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