Long Cancer Infusions To Space Labs, How An Odisha Startup By '3 Musketeers' Looks To Take Drug Research Into Orbit

 

Bhubaneswar : Watching a cancer drug being administered intravenously over six to seven hours left physicist and entrepreneur Antariksh Parichha with a question - could advances in pharmaceutical formulation eventually make some treatments easier and quicker for patients?

question led Parichha, along with Jivitesh Debata and Dr Monica Ekal, to co-found Serendipity Space, a Bhubaneswar-based startup exploring the possibilities of pharmaceutical research and manufacturing beyond Earth.

The startup recently tested Alchemy, its autonomous drug-crystallisation system, during a near-space mission using a stratospheric balloon. According to the company, the system carried out its programmed operations during the flight and the payload was subsequently recovered.

Long Cancer Infusions To Space Labs, How An Odisha Startup By '3 Musketeers' Looks To Take Drug Research Into Orbit

 

“The idea is to finally set up pharmaceutical laboratories in space using reusable satellites and explore the manufacture of life-saving drugs under conditions available in orbit,” Parichha explained.

Researchers across the world are examining whether orbital conditions can help produce drug and protein crystals with properties that may be difficult to achieve on Earth. Serendipity Space hopes to explore this potential through future missions. “On Earth, gravity can affect the crystallisation process. Conditions in orbit could help overcome some of the limitations associated with drug crystallisation on the ground,” Parichha reasoned.

During the near-space demonstration, Alchemy carried pharmaceutical samples and conducted an automated crystallisation process. The mission was intended to test the system’s ability to operate autonomously during flight and preserve the samples until their recovery.

 

The exercise marked an early technological step towards the startup’s larger ambition of developing reusable satellite-based laboratories capable of supporting pharmaceutical research and manufacturing in low-Earth orbit.

Cancer Infusions To Space Labs, How An Odisha Startup By '3 Musketeers' Looks To Take Drug Research Into Orbit

For Parichha, however, the project is not driven by an interest in space alone. Its roots lie in his experience of observing cancer treatment and the time required to administer certain medicines intravenously.

“The idea came to me when I saw that some cancer medicines could take six to seven hours to be administered intravenously. If advances in drug formulation eventually allow such a medicine to be given through a subcutaneous injection, it could help thousands of patients and significantly reduce the duration of treatment,” said Parichha, co-founder and CEO of Serendipity Space.

 

He subsequently began studying advanced immunotherapies and the challenges associated with pharmaceutical manufacturing on Earth. This led him to explore whether research conducted in orbit could contribute to the development of more stable or concentrated formulations of certain medicines.

“There is a long way to go for Serendipity Space. But this is a good time to build such a startup because there is so much happening in India’s space sector,” he said.

The company’s technology has been developed at the Institute of Life Sciences incubator in Bhubaneswar, where Serendipity Space is incubated. The startup secured pre-seed funding in July 2025 and has since worked on developing and testing its prototype.

 

Long Cancer Infusions To Space Labs, How An Odisha Startup By '3 Musketeers' Looks To Take Drug Research Into Orbit

Having completed its near-space demonstration, the team now plans to undertake orbital missions as it works towards its long-term objective.

“The goal is to establish regular pharmaceutical research and production in orbit,” Parichha, a post graduate in Physics, said.