Organovo and BICO reach licensing agreement on bioprinting patents
Organovo Holdings and BICO have reached an agreement on a broad license for BICO and its affiliate companies to Organovo’s foundational patent portfolio in 3D bioprinting. Founded in 2016, BICO (formerly Cellink) is the leading bio convergence company in the world. Cellink continues to operate as a wholly-owned division of BICO.
Organovo exclusively licensed early bioprinting work by Gabor Forgacs, its scientific founder, and Thomas Boland of Clemson, both bioprinting pioneers. After its founding, the company did early innovation in the 3D bioprinter space and obtained a further broad set of patents that provide foundational claims in the bioprinting space. In order to broaden the impact of the technology and serve the needs of a broad array of researchers and other users, the company seeks to make these patents available for license to first-rate bioprinter developers.
Organovo Executive Chairman Keith Murphy commented, “Organovo celebrates the success of CELLINK’s bioprinting product lines in opening up the horizons of 3D bioprinting to customers. We are proud to be a part of enabling CELLINK and BICO to grow these products and we look forward with excitement to their next generation of bioprinters.”
Organovo and BICO were engaged in several legal disputes regarding the patents. Under the new agreement, all civil actions regarding potential infringement and IPRs concerning the validity of Organovo’s patents are dismissed and/or terminated. Both BICO and Organovo have released each other from all previous claims, demands liabilities, and costs in favor of the beneficial and sustainable solution created through this patent license agreement.
