Pharmaceutical production in space? The case of the USA.

Abstract

Globally, over $100 billion are spent annually on space goods and services. These include space shuttles, space stations ('factories'), transportation into space and materials processing in space (MPS). Many countries are involved, such as the USA, USSR, Japan and China. A current, fascinating area of space commerce--albeit in its infancy--is the production in space of vital pharmaceuticals such as urokinase, interferon and Factor VIII. This article discusses space-based pharmaceutical production, marketing-related obstacles and other concerns in the USA.