(Reuters) -Varda Space Industries said on Thursday it has raised $187 million in a funding round led by venture capital firms Natural Capital and Shrug Capital, to boost the technology for robotic drug manufacturing in space.

The latest round, which included participation from Lux Capital, billionaire Peter Thiel, Founders Fund and Vinod Khosla's eponymous investment fund Khosla Ventures, brings the total capital raised by Varda to $329 million.

"With this capital, Varda will continue to increase our flight cadence and build out the pharmaceutical lab that will deliver the world's first microgravity-enabled drug formulation," said Varda CEO Will Bruey.

Materials such as the active pharmaceutical ingredients in medicines crystallize differently in space due to the lack of gravity, creating drug formulations that would otherwise be impossible, the company said.

In 2023, Varda successfully completed its first, 27-hour drug manufacturing experiment in space and brought the drug back to Earth.

Since launching its first space capsule, W-1, in 2023, Varda has completed three successful launch and return missions, with a fourth currently in orbit and a fifth expected to launch before the end of the year.

During its first W-1 mission, Varda grew crystals of anti-HIV drug ritonavir while flying in Low Earth Orbit, and succesfully recovered the original form of the drug after re-entering Earth, with no signs of conversion.

The company said it has also expanded its terrestrial footprint with an office in Huntsville, Alaska and a laboratory in El Segundo, California.

It plans to use the lab space to crystallize more biologic drugs, to turn them into structured solids for research and to improve their formulation.

(Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese and Bhanvi Satija in Bengaluru)