EPISODE SUMMARY
This week’s Pathfinder pod features Will Bruey (CEO) and Delian Asparouhov (President) of Varda Space Industries. The LA-based startup harnesses microgravity for pharmaceutical development and manufacturing. In its latest mission, the company successfully processed ritonavir, a crucial antiviral drug utilized in HIV/AIDS treatment.
EPISODE NOTES
Right on the heels of their $90M funding round, this week’s Pathfinder spotlights Varda and its cofounders, Will Bruey (CEO) and Delian Asparouhov (President). The LA-based startup harnesses microgravity for pharmaceutical development and manufacturing. In its latest mission, the company successfully processed ritonavir, a crucial antiviral drug utilized in HIV/AIDS treatment.
In addition to Varda’s origin story and the Series B fundraise, Mo, Will, and Delian discuss:
- Varda’s commercialization strategy
- The business case for in-space manufacturing
- The significance of the W-1 mission
- Adapting to the regulatory environment
- Microgravity formulation optimization
And much more…
This episode is brought to you by the Italian Trade Agency (ITA).
• Chapters •
00:00 Intro & ITA Ad
01:21 Varda’s origin
05:40 What are you building?
08:17 What does space have to offer for manufacturing?
12:00 The business case for space manufacturing
18:02 What drugs have been improved in space?
19:13 What happened to ZBLAN?
20:54 R&D for manufacturing in space
22:34 The W-1 mission
29:05 Customer traction
30:38 Where does Varda’s business risk lie?
38:22 Competitive landscape
39:49 Potential partnerships
42:48 Regulatory learnings
45:30 The Series B
46:57 Use cases beyond pharma
48:19 Space stations
55:35 Other companies Will is excited about
57:22 Where would Delian invest his last space investment?
• Show notes •
Varda’s website — https://www.varda.com/
The Return of Ritonavir Paper: https://www.varda.com/papers/1711063046-return-of-the-ritonavir-a-study-on-the-stability-of-pharmaceuticals-processed-in-orbit-and-returned-to-earth.pdf
Will’s socials — https://twitter.com/WillBruey
Delian’s socials — https://twitter.com/zebulgar
Mo’s socials — https://twitter.com/itsmoislam
Payload’s socials — https://twitter.com/payloadspace / https://www.linkedin.com/company/payloadspace
Pathfinder archive — Watch: https://www.youtube.com/@payloadspace
Pathfinder archive — Listen: https://pod.payloadspace.com/episodes