BioOrbit Raises £9.8M Seed to Manufacture Cancer Drugs in Orbit

UK biotech startup BioOrbit has raised £9.8 million ($13.2 million) in seed funding to scale a process for manufacturing cancer drugs in low-Earth orbit. The round, co-led by LocalGlobe and Breega, is the largest seed raise ever recorded for in-space pharmaceutical manufacturing. It also stands out as one of the most ambitious recent space industry funding rounds of 2026.

A Record Raise for Space Pharma

The round drew participation from Auxxo, Seedcamp, Type One, 7 percent, and a roster of angel investors. BioOrbit was founded by CEO Dr. Katie King and oncology researcher Dr. Leonor Teles, and previously received a £250,000 feasibility grant from the UK Space Agency to explore scalable in-space crystallisation of biologic drugs.

The capital will accelerate BioOrbit's transition from microgravity research experiments to contracted pharmaceutical programs at industrial scale.

Why Microgravity Matters for Cancer Therapies

BioOrbit's hardware platform, BOX, is a compact, autonomous manufacturing unit roughly the size of a microwave that operates in low-Earth orbit. In microgravity, the system grows highly ordered crystals of protein-based drugs, a process that is difficult to replicate on Earth due to convection and sedimentation.

The resulting crystalline formulations have lower viscosity, which allows therapies typically delivered intravenously in a hospital to be reformulated as subcutaneous, self-injectable treatments. According to BioOrbit, 70% of the highest-grossing drugs globally are currently administered intravenously in clinical settings.

The company's primary targets are anti-cancer antibodies, with the goal of moving cancer infusions out of the clinic and into patients' homes.

From Experiment to Industrial Deployment

BioOrbit flew its first BOX to orbit aboard The Exploration Company's Nyx spacecraft last year, and a second mission is scheduled to launch this year. CEO Katie King expects to fly as many as two missions in 2027 as the company moves from one-off demonstrations to repeatable industrial production runs. Follow ongoing in-space manufacturing news and related orbital launches for upcoming flight windows.

The raise lands alongside a UK government push to position the country as a hub for space-manufactured medicines, with the UK Space Agency backing early-stage projects that could shorten the path from microgravity research to regulated pharmaceutical supply chains.

If BioOrbit succeeds, the implications stretch beyond a single company - converting hospital infusions into at-home injections could reshape the economics of cancer care while opening a commercial use case substantial enough to anchor a new generation of orbital factories. Explore more space companies building the in-orbit economy.