On Tuesday 18 November 2025, Exobiosphere SARL and the Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH) announced a new agreement aimed at advancing space-enabled drug discovery.
Exobiosphere, a space biotechnology company based in the House of BioHealth, and the LIH have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to jointly advance biomedical research and drug discovery in space. This collaboration is described as "a major milestone in positioning Luxembourg as a leader in space-enabled life sciences and strengthening the bridge between biotechnology and NewSpace innovation."
Under this agreement, Exobiosphere will provide access to its Orbital High-Throughput Screening (OHTS) missions, an advanced standardised research platform designed to operate aboard upcoming commercial space stations such as VAST’s Haven-1. The platform enables regular orbital experiments that explore how biological systems behave in microgravity, a unique environment where cellular processes are accelerated.
Together with the scientific expertise of the LIH in neurodegenerative diseases, notably through the NCER-PD (National Centre of Excellence in Research on Parkinson’s Disease) programme on Parkinson’s Disease, the partnership will focus on developing space grade patient-derived models and validating new therapeutic discovery pipelines in orbit.
"At the LIH, our mission is to translate scientific discovery into better health outcomes. Exploring microgravity as a new research dimension opens up exciting opportunities for translational medicine," stated Ulf Nehrbass, CEO of LIH.
Beyond research, the MoU lays the foundation for broader national initiatives in space life sciences. The two institutions will co-host workshops and symposia, offer internships and training programmes for Luxembourg students and postdocs, and explore funding mechanisms to sustain regular access to orbital research platforms.
"This partnership unites the excellence in health research of the LIH with Exobiosphere’s growing leadership in space innovation. Together we aim to accelerate the development of new treatments that could improve how we understand and fight neurodegenerative diseases," said Bruno Santos, Director of R&D at Exobiosphere.
