Feasibility of commercial space manufacturing, production of pharmaceuticals. Volume 2: Technical analysis

A technical analysis on the feasibility of commercial manufacturing of pharmaceuticals in space is presented. The method of obtaining pharmaceutical company involvement, laboratory results of the separation of serum proteins by the continuous flow electrophoresis process, the selection and study of candidate products, and their production requirements is described. The candidate products are antihemophilic factor, beta cells, erythropoietin, epidermal growth factor, alpha-1-antitrypsin and interferon. Production mass balances for antihemophelic factor, beta cells, and erythropoietin were compared for space versus ground operation. A conceptual description of a multiproduct processing system for space operation is discussed. Production requirements for epidermal growth factor of alpha-1-antitrypsin and interferon are presented.