Nes Tziona, Israel, based Nano Dimension Ltd., a leader in the area of 3D Printed Electronics, on Wednesday announced it has successfully lab-tested a proof of concept 3D Bioprinter for stem cells. The trial was conducted in collaboration with Accellta Ltd., a company headquartered in Haifa, Israel, that has developed proprietary technologies for the unique production of high quality media, stem cells, progenitors and differentiated cells for drug discovery, regenerative medicine and research.
The feasibility study, conducted in the second quarter of 2016, confirmed that the combined knowhow and technologies of the companies enabled printing of viable stem cells using an adapted 3D printer.
“3D printing of living cells is a technology that is already playing a significant role in medical research, but in order to reach its full potential, for the field to evolve further, there is a need to improve printing speeds, print resolution, cell control and viability, as well as cell availability and bio-ink technologies,” said Amit Dror, CEO of Nano Dimension. “By combining our high-speed, high precision inkjet capabilities with Accellta’s stem cell suspension technologies and induced differentiation capabilities led by a world-renowned group of experienced engineers and scientists, we can enable 3D printing at high-resolution and high volumes.”
The companies will consider the formation of a new entity for these future solutions and do not intend to invest significant capital directly to expand this activity. Such funds would be raised by and for the use of the joint entity.
3D bioprinting enabled by the two companies’ technologies, means that Nano Dimension and Accellta have the potential to accelerate high fidelity and high viability manufacturing of living cellular products. Accellta’s unique, robust and reproducible suspension-based cell culturing systems produce billions of high quality stem cells per batch and represent a transformative step in terms of stem cell production. Accellta’s technology can deliver large quantities of high quality cells which can be an enabler for printing even large and complex tissues and organs.
“Accellta and Nano Dimension have joined forces in this initial trial to evaluate and adapt the joint potential of our technologies. We hope and believe that this will bring the mutual capabilities and knowhow of both companies to create 3D bioprinting solutions that combine a high precision, high-throughput printer with dedicated bio-ink technologies, derived from stem cells,” said Dr. Itzchak Angel, Chairman and CEO of Accellta. “By enabling high precision 3D bioprinting and differentiation of stem cells into required tissues, our combined technologies have the potential to enable vast areas of development. We are very excited about these initial results and what the future holds.”
The market for 3D bioprinting is expected grow rapidly over the next decade, from $481 million in 2014 to an anticipated $6 billion in 2024. Developments in these emerging fields are progressing at a swift pace, and the healthcare industry is clamoring to participate. The technology has tremendous value for areas such as pre-clinical drug discovery and testing, cosmetics safety testing, toxicology assays, tissue printing and ‘organs on chips’.
Advanced 3D inkjet technology, the core competence of Nano Dimension, enables rapid printing of complex multi-material objects such as those needed for next generation bioprinting. Nano Dimension’s novel capabilities, developed for its state-of-the-art 3D printed electronics technology for printed circuit boards (PCBs) may pave the way to other advanced multi-material printing domains such as 3D bioprinting.