What Happened
El Segundo Startup Expands Orbital Factories for Pharmaceutical Production
Varda Space Industries, an El Segundo-based startup, has raised $251M in Series D funding to advance its ambitious plan to manufacture medicines in microgravity. The company’s compact spacecraft serve as laboratories and manufacturing facilities in orbit, processing pharmaceutical materials and returning the results to Earth. With this funding, Varda’s total investment reaches $598M, valuing the company at $1.6B. The startup plans to use the funding to increase its flight cadence, expand pharmaceutical partnerships, and move closer to delivering the first medicine manufactured in space for use by patients on Earth, as reported by dot.LA.