“In the US alone, there are 900,000 deaths per year from organ impairment, while only 31,000 transplants are performed each year,” says Collplant.
By United with Israel Staff
Israeli company CollPlant is using 3D bioprinting for the regeneration of tissues, organs and medical aesthetics.
The company’s products are based on its ‘rhCollagen’ (recombinant human collagen) product that uses a plant-based, geneticallly engineered technology. It is ushering in a “new era in regenerative medicine” by creating materials to build and repair organs and tissues.
One of its developing products is the 3D bioprinting of implants for regeneration of breast tissue. The CollPlant’s product is “loaded with fat cells taken from the patient” to promote breast tissue regeneration and has “an excellent safety profile,” said Yehiel Tal, CEO of CollPlant, reports PRNewsWire.
“We believe that our technology can eliminate the high risk for adverse events associated with permanent breast implants and provide a revolutionary alternative,” Tal said. “This technology is already raising interest from leading companies in this segment.”
CollPlant is also developing and commercializing tissue-repair products for orthobiologics and advanced wound-care markets with the goal of “delivering innovative products that offer the best treatment options to patients and their physicians,” according to its website.
“CollPlant’s rhCollagen was modified chemically to adapt the biological molecules for printing, such that the BioInk maintains controlled fluidity during printing, and cures to form hydrogel when irradiated by light ranging from UV to visible light,” the website says. These advances provide “tight control on the physical properties of the resulting scaffolds to match natural tissues properties, from stiff cartilage to soft adipose.”
Various companies are seeking to commercialize 3D bioprinting in order to create kidneys, corneas and scaffolds for interbody spine fusion, the site adds.
There is a growing interest in 3D bioprinting for medicinal applications such as tissue and organ rejuvenation for transplant and tissue modeling.
“In the US alone, there are 900,000 deaths per year from organ impairment, while only 31,000 transplants are performed each year,” says Collplant. This is often due to long waiting times for patients to receive an organ. Additionally, the high cost of the procedures create an economic burden on health systems.
The company hopes that its “3D bioprinting advances will enable unlimited and economical access to organs around the world.”
In October 2018, CollPlant entered into a licensing agreement with United Therapeutics, allowing United Therapeutics to use CollPlant’s BioInks in the manufacturing of 3D bioprinted lungs for transplant in humans, reports PRNewsWire.
CollPlant reported revenues of $679,000 for the third quarter of 2019, an increase of 203 percent compared to $224,000 in the third quarter of 2018,
