Science & Industry

First some context: a fellow player/friend has been working his way into industry and now fancies a go a drug manufacture. My gut tells me that's an untenable venture, at this time anyway. Just some of the questions which come to mind:

How viable is it for him to setup a POS (with the requisite drug facilities) on his own? How many/of what type of defenses would be required so that it doesn't disappear over night? Can one setup such a POS in non-empire space, or will the native mega corps just kick you out? Even if he sets up in empire space will he be constantly harassed? If you dont have a fleet of combat ready friends to run the NPC drug sites and/or harvest gas will buying the BPCs, reactions, gas, etc. make it impossible to net a profit?

Making boosters is perfectly viable and profitable even when buying all your materials off the open market. Just remember that selling your boosters is a slow and painful process. There is not a lot of demand for them.