Pharmaceutical Companies

Varda Space Industries

El Segundo, United States commercial

Founded in January 2021 by former SpaceX engineer Will Bruey and Founders Fund partner Delian Asparouhov, Varda Space Industries is pioneering in-space pharmaceutical manufacturing using microgravity to create superior drug formulations. The company designs spacecraft that process small molecule pharmaceuticals in microgravity where suppressed convection and sedimentation produce more uniform crystals, improving drug shelf-life, bioavailability, and patient experience. In February 2024, Varda made history as only the third company ever to return materials from orbit, successfully bringing back ritonavir HIV medication crystals from their W-1 mission after navigating complex regulatory approvals. With $329 million raised through Series C funding, the El Segundo-based company has flown a series of W-class reentry capsules, with missions through W-6 listed on its own platform page, demonstrating that materials can be processed in orbit and returned to Earth commercially.

AstraZeneca Space Research refers to the ISS-based biologics and cell-therapy research run by AstraZeneca, the pharmaceutical group formed in 1999 from the merger of Sweden's Astra AB and Britain's Zeneca Group, headquartered in Cambridge, UK, listed on the London Stock Exchange, Nasdaq Stockholm and NYSE as AZN, and employing about 89,900 people as of 2025. The company has run several distinct investigations aboard the International Space Station National Laboratory: nanoparticle formation for cancer vaccines, examining how microgravity affects the development of nanoparticles used in therapeutic cancer vaccines; monoclonal antibody production and stability, since these biologic molecules are used to treat cancer and autoimmune disease; and regenerative-medicine work on cell therapies targeting leukemia, breast cancer and glioblastoma. According to the ISS National Lab, AstraZeneca's nanoparticle cancer-vaccine research launched on SpaceX's CRS-17 cargo mission in April 2019, and its monoclonal-antibody stability study launched on SpaceX's CRS-18 mission in July 2019. The company is named by the ISS National Lab alongside Sanofi Pasteur, Merck, Bristol Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly and GlaxoSmithKline as one of several major pharmaceutical companies leveraging microgravity to improve biopharmaceutical manufacturing and drug development. As with the other large drugmakers running similar programs, AstraZeneca's space-based research is one research line within a much larger global pharmaceutical business rather than a separately incorporated company.

Bristol Myers Squibb Space Research refers to the ISS-based drug-development program of Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), the pharmaceutical group founded in 1887, registered in Princeton, New Jersey, listed on the NYSE as BMY, and employing about 32,500 people as of 2025. BMS studies protein crystallization and alternative drug-delivery methods aboard the International Space Station National Laboratory, with a specific goal of finding ways to replace scheduled medication infusions with quick injections for patients. The company's main ISS research vehicle has been Redwire's Pharmaceutical In-space Laboratory (PIL-BOX) facility, a commercial service provider platform used to examine small-molecule compound crystallization in microgravity. BMS payloads have flown on multiple SpaceX Commercial Resupply Services missions to the station, including CRS-27 in March 2023, continuation supplies on CRS-28 in May 2023, and further work on CRS-31 in November 2024. The company has also run tissue-chip investigations aboard the ISS to gather drug-development insights that are difficult to obtain in terrestrial cell culture. BMS is represented on the ISS National Laboratory's Applied Research and Development Subcommittee, with the company's participation attributed to representatives including Robert Garmise. As with other large drugmakers using the station -- Sanofi, Merck, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca among them -- this space research is a specific, ongoing R&D program rather than a separately incorporated business.

GlaxoSmithKline Space Research refers to the ISS-based biologics research run by GSK plc, the UK pharmaceutical group formed in 2000 from the merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham, headquartered in London, listed on the London Stock Exchange as GSK, and employing roughly 65,000 people. GSK studies the stability and aggregation behavior of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies in the microgravity environment of the International Space Station National Laboratory, seeking to better understand the mechanics of protein aggregate formation that can limit a biologic drug's shelf life or effectiveness. The program's co-principal investigators are Dr. Deidre Dalmas Wilk and Dr. Matthew Henry; Dalmas Wilk also sits on the ISS National Lab's Science Subcommittee User Advisory Committee, giving GSK a direct role in shaping station research priorities beyond its own experiments. According to the ISS National Lab, GSK's monoclonal-antibody stability investigations were manifested on the Northrop Grumman CRS-14 cargo mission in September 2020 and the Northrop Grumman CRS-16 mission in August 2021. GSK is named by the ISS National Lab alongside Merck, AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly and Sanofi as one of several major pharmaceutical companies that have moved biologics-stability and drug-development research onto the space station. As with those peers, this is a specific, ongoing research program inside a much larger global pharmaceutical business rather than a standalone company.

Novartis Space Research refers to the ISS-based rodent-physiology program run by the Novartis Institutes of Biomedical Research, the R&D arm of Novartis, the Swiss pharmaceutical group formed in 1996 from the merger of Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz, headquartered in Basel, listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange as NOVN and on the NYSE as NVS (ADS), and employing roughly 75,900 people as of 2024. Novartis's research has focused on muscle wasting (sarcopenia) in microgravity, including work on an implantable device designed to safely administer a muscle-wasting drug over a long period, developed with partners Houston Methodist Research Institute and NanoMedical Systems alongside NASA. The program flew mice to the International Space Station on NASA's Rodent Research-1 (RR-1) mission, which carried five wild-type mice, launched aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule in September 2014. It continued with Rodent Research-2 (RR-2), led by Dr. Samuel Cadena, which monitored the effects of microgravity on rodent muscle and bone. Results from the first rodent-research mission were published in June 2019, with related publications appearing from 2014 through 2021. The ISS National Lab highlights Novartis as one of the earlier pharmaceutical users of the station's Rodent Research Facility for translational muscle and bone research, a line of work distinct from the protein-crystallization and antibody-stability studies run by pharmaceutical peers such as Merck, Eli Lilly, Sanofi, Bristol Myers Squibb, GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca. It remains a specific research program within Novartis's much larger global pharmaceutical business rather than a separate company.

Sanofi Space Research refers to the ISS-based vaccine research run by Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of French pharmaceutical group Sanofi (founded 1973, headquartered in Paris, listed on Euronext Paris as SAN and Nasdaq as SNY, with roughly 83,000 employees). Sanofi uses BioServe Space Technologies as its implementation partner to fly experiments to the International Space Station National Laboratory studying how the microgravity environment affects vaccine performance. Its documented research includes an 'MDCK Influenza Virus Infection' investigation examining how influenza virus behaves in microgravity, with the goal of informing more effective vaccines, particularly for older adults whose immune response to flu vaccination is typically weaker. According to the ISS National Lab, the project has produced what it described in 2026 as 'unexpected' findings that could help improve vaccine design. Sanofi's ISS research activity is documented from at least 2019 through 2026, and its payloads have flown on ISS cargo resupply missions, including a presence referenced on the SpaceX CRS-21 mission manifest in November 2020. The ISS National Lab lists Sanofi alongside several other large pharmaceutical companies -- including Merck, Eli Lilly, Bristol Myers Squibb, GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca -- as part of a broader wave of drugmakers using the station to study protein behavior, vaccine formulation and drug stability under conditions that cannot be replicated on Earth. As with those peers, the space research is a minor, specific R&D program within a far larger global pharmaceutical business rather than a separate operating company.

Zealand Pharma Space

Copenhagen, Denmark commercial

Zealand Pharma (Nasdaq: ZEAL) is a Copenhagen, Denmark-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company founded in 1998 that primarily develops peptide-based medicines for metabolic diseases and gastrointestinal disorders — with a specialized interest in microgravity research to improve its drug development pipeline. Zealand conducts protein crystallization experiments through the ISS National Laboratory, exploiting a key advantage of microgravity: in the absence of convective flows and sedimentation that occur on Earth, protein crystals grow larger, more ordered, and with fewer defects, yielding crystal structures suitable for higher-resolution X-ray diffraction analysis. Precise 3D protein structures — produced by cryo-electron microscopy and X-ray crystallography from these superior crystals — enable Zealand's medicinal chemists to design peptide drugs that fit target receptor binding sites with greater specificity, improving potency and reducing off-target effects. This protein crystallization work supports Zealand's therapeutic programs including GLP-2 receptor agonists (teduglutide/Gattex for short bowel syndrome) and newer cardiometabolic peptides. Several major pharmaceutical companies including Merck, AstraZeneca, and Eli Lilly have similarly used ISS microgravity for drug crystal growth, reflecting a legitimate and commercially validated application of space-based research to pharmaceutical development.

Eascra Biotech manufactures therapeutic nanoparticles in microgravity. Its Janus base nanomaterials are synthetic molecules that self-assemble into DNA-like structures — named for the two-faced Roman god because each particle carries two or more distinct physical properties, allowing different chemistry on the same particle. The company is a University of Connecticut spinoff co-founded by Yupeng Chen and Mari Anne Snow. Working with Axiom Space and the ISS National Lab, it has produced Janus base nanomaterials aboard the International Space Station; results showed that reducing gravity-driven forces during self-assembly measurably improves the structure and uniformity of the particles, which matters because uniformity drives dose consistency in a delivered therapeutic. Product lines include a nanotube, a room-temperature-stable mRNA delivery platform, and an injectable matrix for cartilage repair and regeneration. NASA awarded the company $1.8 million for in-space manufacturing work, and its material has flown on Axiom's Ax-2 mission and a SpaceX commercial resupply flight.