New Era of Space Pharma: Following the successful fourth launch of South Korea’s homegrown rocket, the Nuri, the field of ‘Space Pharma’—utilizing the space environment for drug discovery and manufacturing—is emerging as a key future industry.
Microgravity Advantage: The microgravity environment in space facilitates the challenging processes of high-purity protein crystallization and the creation of uniform drug particles, which is critical for developing superior new medicines.
Industry Trends: Global pharma leader Merck successfully leveraged space experiment results to develop the subcutaneous (SC) formulation of its immunotherapy blockbuster ‘Keytruda.’ In Korea, companies like SpaceLinTec and Boryung are actively entering the market, with SpaceLinTec having sent a protein crystallization experiment satellite on the latest Nuri launch.