Astrogenetix: Coming of A New Trend?

Astrogenetix is the first biotech company to solely use space to conduct life sciences research with the intent of making commercial drugs, sending up new materials in the recent shuttle launch. In an earlier post “The Orbital Industrial Revolution Pt 2” I wrote about how space could be used to shorten research timelines by gaining new insights into how living compounds interact with drugs and vaccines. This company is acting based on this fact. Astrogenetix has lab space on the International Space Station and the Space Shuttle, gotten through agreements with NASA. They are making remarkable progress into diseases currently either incurable, or curable with a very small set of drugs.

Unfortunately, despite Astrogenetix’s remarkable progress of utilizing microgravity for both commercial and human benefit, its business model is difficult to replicate. Most companies do not have the same level of access with NASA as Astrogenetix to get space on any of its launch vehicles. Currently, the only commercial launch company to offer space for life sciences research is SpaceX. Despite offering space, SpaceX is still rocket based, and has a very limited operating envelope, being unable to launch unless conditions are just right. Until access to space is opened up by inexpensive, reliable, flexible, launch services, Astrogenetix will remain a fluke instead of a trendsetter.