Let me explain why is
@VardaSpace is such an important company
A patient who has cancer has cells that have proteins that are activated leading to growth, replication and then damage.
Targeted drugs work on these cells in 2 ways:
1. Inhibit the receptor (the protein), essentially jamming its function until the drug wears off. An example is Tamoxifen, used in breast cancer to block oestrogen receptor binding.
2. Degrading the receptor altogether so signalling doesn't work and the cell needs to spend time recreating the receptor before it can work again, an example being Fulvestrant which degrades the receptor itself.
The second option here is important to understand because the effect of it significantly out lasts how long the drug lasts in your system. One type of these drugs is called PROTACs - it's a newer type of cancer drug that destroys these proteins (proteolysis) removing functions often related to cancer signalling.
Now these drugs are complex, 15+ chemical steps and can be upto 4x more heavy than normal drugs. With each molecule taking many shapes, when packed together, they often don't form a uniform lattice shape. On Earth, gravity leads to convection currents that feeds these molecules unevenly into the forming crystal, too fast resulting in non-uniform crystal formation.
These drugs:
- Dissolve poorly when ingested
- Have difficulties crossing cell membranes
- Lead to unpredictable bioavailability
- Require high doses in order to get enough drug in the system
Varda here by
@WillBruey and
@zebulgar aims to solves this with undisturbed crystal formation growth in microgravity.
With a new purer drug you get:
- Predictable bioavailability
- A more stable drug
- A better outcome for patients
This is Varda