CELLINK and Prellis Biologics announce powerful, $1.2M Holograph-X Bioprinter
The state-of-the-art bioprinting platform will become available in early 2019
Swedish bioprinting company CELLINK has entered into a partnership with organ and tissue engineering company Prellis Biologics, Inc. with the goal of commercializing high-resolution holographic bioprinting technology for micro-scale printing. By combining their IP and respective expertise, the companies will introduce what they call the “first system enabling ultra-high resolution bioprinting of microstructures” for producing vascular networks.
The holographic bioprinting technology will draw on and complement CELLINK’s existing extrusion-based bioprinting technology as well as Prellis Biologic’s proprietary multi-photon laser-based bioprinting platform.
“We believe in the democratization of science,” commented Melanie Matheu, CEO of Prellis Biologics. “It’s not only our team who will lead discovery and therapeutics development using true-to-life 3D structures, but scientists across the globe. Putting this technology into the hands of dedicated researchers is the fastest path to bring scientific advancements to the field and solutions to real people.”
As part of the collaboration, CELLINK will take on the design of the bioprinting system, including user interface development as well as sales of the printer, ink and consumables to end-users in the pharmaceutical industry and academics.
Holograph-X Bioprinter
The first product offered through the partnership will be the CELLINK Holograph-X Bioprinter – Powered by Prellis Biologics. Retailing for about $1.2 million, the cutting-edge bioprinting system will reportedly become the first platform for bioprinting pre-vascularized tissue structures that support tissue growth 10x larger than more conventional spheroid cultures.
The high-end system is compatible with any CAD file, enabling researchers to set their own goals for organ and tissue cultures. The bioprinter can also be used for in-lab manufacturing of capillary-containing organ structures and tissues for transplantation, therapeutics screening and complex 3D culture development.
CELLINK and Prellis emphasize that the upcoming bioprinting technology is capable of resolutions that “match the microvascular structures of human tissues and extracellular matrix.” Development of the Holograph-X Bioprinter is already well underway, as the first commercial machine is expected to launch in early 2019.
Erik Gatenholm, CEO of CELLINK, commented: “We are excited to announce this partnership where we combine key strengths of our two companies resulting in cutting edge technology to our partners and customers empowering them to advance their research in the field of 3D bioprinting of human organs.”
MedImmune collab
In other recent CELLINK news, the bioprinting company entered into a year-long partnership with MedImmune, the global biologics R&D arm of AstraZeneca. Through this partnership, MedImmune will leverage CELLINK’s bioinks to bioprint tissues for the exploration of new disease treatment therapies. The bioprinted tissues will be utilized in a range of disease fields, including oncology, respiratory, cardiovascular, renal and metabolic.
“This collaboration would further open the Pharmaceutical development segment for CELLINK and lay the groundwork for future drug development processes,” said Gatenholm. “MedImmune is a leader in biologics research and development and embraces cutting-edge technology to advance the development of potential new therapies. It’s an honor and a tremendous opportunity for us to work side-by-side with MedImmune.”
Last week, CELLINK also announced the acquisition of German biodispensing tech company Dispendix GmbH for €5 million.
