The Next Frontier for Pharma: Can Europe and its Allies Lead In-Orbit Drug Manufacturing?

Microgravity is quietly transforming pharmaceutical development: purer protein crystallisation, more realistic tissue modelling, and drug formulations simply impossible to replicate on Earth. Research conducted on the ISS has already led to an FDA-approved reformulation of one of the world's best-selling cancer treatments, and interest from major pharmaceutical companies is accelerating. The question now is where this industry gets built, and who leads it. With regulators beginning to open the door, including a dedicated UK regulatory sandbox, and new specialist companies securing serious investment, this panel examines what it will take for Europe and its allies to compete in one of space's most commercially promising new frontiers, from infrastructure and funding to the regulatory clarity still missing in many markets.