Varda Space Industries has launched a mission to orbit carrying a cancer drug, according to Dealroom. The flight, designated W-7, is intended to study how the drug crystallizes in space. The launch follows a $251 million fundraising round, Dealroom reports.
The company's goal is to test whether crystals formed in microgravity differ from those produced on Earth. PR Newswire, in its own announcement of the mission, described W-7 as a study of cancer drug crystallization in orbit. Axios also reported on the mission, framing it as a test of making cancer drugs in space.
Varda's work sits within a broader interest in space-based manufacturing, where the absence of gravity is examined for its effects on how materials and pharmaceutical compounds form. The W-7 mission is the company's latest step in that direction, and the new capital is tied to its effort to test space-made crystals, according to Dealroom.
Details on the specific drug, the mission's duration and the launch provider were not included in the reporting summarized here.
What to watch next: whether Varda discloses results from the W-7 crystallization experiment and how the $251 million raise is allocated across its future missions.
