Delta Biosciences, a Lithuanian chemistry company, has secured a partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA) to conduct a pioneering space medicine experiment aboard the International Space Station (ISS) beginning in 2026. The nearly three-year mission will investigate how the unique radiation environment in space affects pharmaceutical stability, with significant implications for future long-duration space missions.
Radiation Effects on Pharmaceutical Stability
The experiment will specifically test Delta Biosciences' proprietary radioprotective compounds and radiation-resistant additives known as excipients. These specialized formulations aim to address a critical challenge in space medicine: ensuring medications remain safe and effective throughout extended missions where resupply is impossible.
"Medicines are designed with terrestrial logic, but space changes everything," explained Dominykas Milašius, co-founder of Delta Biosciences. "Radiation, extreme temperatures, and the lack of resupply push pharmaceuticals to their limits." The mission's approach is novel in that it integrates radiation resistance into pharmaceutical development from the ground up rather than adapting existing medications.
The experimental protocol involves exposing dozens of pharmaceutical compounds to different radiation zones aboard the ISS. Research teams will retrieve and analyze samples every eight months, comparing them with ground-based controls to systematically map degradation patterns across various drug formulations.
Critical Need for Space Pharmaceutical Research
One of the major health risks during space travel is radiation exposure. Beyond Earth's protective magnetosphere, astronauts face constant bombardment from galactic cosmic rays and solar particle events – high-energy particles that can damage both human cells and the medications designed to protect them.
Dr. Angelique Van Ombergen, ESA's chief exploration scientist, highlighted the significance of this research: "Experiments assessing how medication is impacted by the space environment are limited so far. This experiment will provide new insights for ESA and the wider space community into how we can protect astronauts and extend the shelf life of medications in space, a key requirement for long-term missions beyond Low Earth Orbit."
The findings could prove crucial for NASA's Artemis program and eventual human missions to Mars, where medication shelf life would need to extend to at least three years without degradation.
International Collaboration and Scientific Impact
To maximize scientific impact, Delta Biosciences has invited international collaborators from the United States, Europe, and Japan to participate in the mission. Dr. Donatas Žmuidinavičius, the company's CTO, emphasized that this collaborative approach will ensure comprehensive data collection and analysis.
"This experiment will provide critical data on how pharmaceuticals degrade under space radiation and offer insights for countermeasure development," said Dr. Christiane Hahn, ESA's science lead for biology.
First-of-its-Kind Mission from Lithuania
The mission represents a significant milestone as the first industrial life sciences experiment of its kind from Lithuania and the broader Central and Eastern European region. It has received strong backing from Lithuania's government, with Economy Minister Lukas Savickas noting that "this mission reinforces Lithuania's ambition to become a leader in deep tech and innovation."
Eglė Elena Šataitė, head of SpaceHub at Innovation Agency Lithuania, described the project as a landmark for the country's contribution to global space research.
Long-Term Vision for Space Medicine
Onė Mikulskytė, a space researcher at Delta Biosciences, emphasized the broader implications of their work: "Space exploration is a global effort, and so is the challenge of keeping astronauts healthy. We're laying the groundwork for a future where no mission is limited by the availability of safe, effective treatments."
The mission is scheduled for launch in early 2026, with preliminary results expected by late 2026 and comprehensive findings to be published throughout the duration of the experiment. These insights could fundamentally reshape pharmaceutical development protocols for space applications and potentially yield innovations applicable to extreme environments on Earth.
