Israeli Nano Dimensions forms a new Bio-Printing subsidiary

10 October, 2016

In March, Nano dimension announced it has successfully printed a 3D structure containing Stem-cells. Now, the company is forming a new Bio-printing subsidiary

In March, Nano Dimensions announced it has successfully printed a 3D structure containing Stem-cells. Now, the company is forming a new Bio-printing subsidiary

 

A conceptual representation of an “organ printer”
A conceptual representation of an “organ printer”

Nano Dimension announced today that it will form a new subsidiary and will transition its bio-printing activities to the new entity. Following initial successful bio-printing trials, the new subsidiary will expedite research and development in this field. As previously reported by Nano Dimension, the company’s current capital will not be used for the bio-printing activities.

The formation of the new subsidiary comes several months after Nano dimensions surprised the markets, announcing it has successfully printed a 3D structure containing stem-cells, together with biomed startup Accellta. Accellta was founded in 2012 by the Technion’s commercialization branch and specialized in stem cell culturing. Nano Dimension’s unique 3D technology was adjusted to the biological field – instead of using polymeric materials and silver ink as is the case when printing PCB’s – the test was preformed using biological materials and “particles” made of Stem-cells grown by Accellta.

The brave new world of Bio-Printing

One of the parameters examined in the experiment was the condition of the cells after the printing process. Techtime has learned that the experiment was considered a success due to the fact that the Stem cells were in the planned locations – but more importantly – alive. In an announcement made in March, the two companies said that by combining both technologies, they enables faster and more accurate cell printing than possible today. In the future, this technology might be used for printing tissues and even organs – further down the road.

Accellta’s cell generating facility in the Technion
Accellta’s cell generating facility in the Technion

Accellta’s technology is used to generate and differentiate billions of high quality cells per batch. The two company’s plan to develop a 3D printer that will enable large scale, high resolution 3Dprinting of biological material. These will serve the medical research sector. 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’.

In March, the companies commented they would consider the formation of a new entity for these future solutions. Though the current announcement made by Nano Dimensions does not include any mention of its partner, it seemed that the company has decided to enter the lucrative field of Bio-Printing  Such funds would be raised by and for the use of the joint entity.IDTechEx forecasts the market for 3D bioprinting to grow rapidly over the next decade from a market size of $481 million in 2014 to as much as $6 billion in 2024. Developments in these emerging fields are progressing at a swift pace, and the healthcare industry is clamoring to participate.

Share via Whatsapp

Posted in: 3D Printing , Medical , News

Other articles you might like

Stratasys is looking for Production Technologies

SolarEdge to Cut Workforce by 16%

Flex Launched a New Production Facility in Israel