CELLINK, MatTek and Visikol launch 3D Bioprinting CRO

BICO subsidiaries CELLINK, MatTek and Visikol launched a collaboration combining the expertise of the three companies to establish a 3D bioprinting CRO (contract research organization) with comprehensive bioprinting services. By utilizing a CRO, CELLINK, MatTek and Visikol have granted their customers access to offerings from all three companies. The partnership furthers the BICO groups’ commitment to its Bio Convergence agenda by identifying synergies in business area Bioprinting to offer customers solutions trending toward the future of health.

“We are very excited to be joining forces with MatTek and Visikol to offer contract research combining our expertise in cell culture, advanced tissue models, 3D bioprinting, imaging, digital pathology and advanced cell culture assay,” said Itedale Namro Redwan, CSO of CELLINK. “We are hoping that our joint effort will contribute to minimizing the use of animal models in research.”

The partnership includes MatTek, which brings decades of primary cell isolation experience; CELLINK, which brings a wealth of bioprinting design and biomaterial development expertise; and Visikol: experts in assay development, and in bridging the gap between 3D models and animal studies.

“By combining the expertise areas of CELLINK, MatTek and Visikol, we’re able to offer researchers a thorough bioprinting experience,” said Michael Johnson, CEO of Visikol. “I’m very proud of this offering and look forward to what we’re able to achieve.”

The joint 3D bioprinting CRO will offer custom-designed tissue constructs bioprinted by CELLINK. These constructs can either be delivered to customers’ labs for analysis, or customers can select to have BICO scientists run experiments and deliver a detailed report. Additionally, alongside custom bioprinting, this partnership will enable customers to leverage established off-the-shelf 3D tissue models and toxicology services from MatTek, and customers will have access to drug toxicity testing and disease modelling platforms from Visikol’s pre-existing services.

“Our complementary technologies and expertise make this partnership with CELLINK and Visikol a natural fit for us,” said Alex Armento, CEO of MatTek. “We’re thrilled to increase our product and service offerings and expand access to more human-relevant testing methods for our customers.”