The Immunotherapy is one of the most promising innovative methods for treating cancer. It consists of imitating or resorting to the body's own immune system Kills cancer cells, by administering drugs intravenously. Given the combination of drugs, this treatment is very invasive and lengthy, as intravenous drips require hours.
Administering these drugs to cancer patients is easier and less painful. However, since it is complex Higher drug concentrations result in more viscous formulations Patients should be given intravenously.
In view of this, the scientific community found a solution to this problem, The Crystallization processWith this you can get sHigh concentration solutions of drugs The solution is not viscous or thick. However, attempts to crystallize immunotherapy drugs have failed because Earth's gravity causes the crystals to have many defects and uneven sizes.
Under the hypothesis that proteins could be efficiently crystallized in space, without the interference of gravity, startup BioOrbit focused on research to enable this. The company that created it Katie King, Doctor of Nanomedicine from the University of Cambridge, founded with purpose Expanding commercialization and manufacturing of immunotherapy drugs into space. After receiving funding from the European Space Agency, BioOrbit will conduct experiments on the International Space Station to demonstrate the efficacy of the drug's crystallization method.
Studies of this type are leading the way How Microgravity Can Be Used to Benefit Drug Development and Manufacturing For its part, BioOrbit's research stands out from others for its approach to manufacturing immunotherapy drugs in space on a commercial scale.
However, the company faces many challenges to consolidate its mission. Among them, the Getting supplies to the International Space Station takes time and money. as well as the lack of regulations and jurisdiction around the development of drugs in space. Nonetheless, King, BioOrbit's founder, told Wired he was excited to serve as a “guinea pig.” This, considering the benefits and contribution of microgravity in their research drugs Creating less invasive cancer treatments.
