3D Stem Cell Printing for Animal-Free Drug Development

Printing tissues and mini-organs have recently been achieved by using modified ink-jet printer technology enabling the field
of biofabrication. The novel method of direct printing live cells opens up new paradigm in tissue science and engineering for
drug discovery and therapeutic applications. We have pioneered the world first valve based bioprinter that is capable of
printing human embryonic stem cells without damaging the cells while maintaining their biological functions. This project
aims to develop the first commercial stem cell bioprinter baed on the valve-based printing technology, working in a
consortium led by the global player in robotic control (Renishaw Ltd) and a SME (ClydeBiosciences Ltd) specialised in
developing human heart muscle cells from stem cells for drug testing. We will develop a new type of stem cell printer by
integrating IP protected 3d printing platform from Renishaw with existing valve based cell printing technology. The new
platform will then be validated for producing human heart and liver tissues using human stem cells from leading stem cell
company Roslin Cellab Ltd) and testing their responses to drugs. The new tool will not only allow us to produce high quality
human tissue for potentially more reliable animal free drug testing, but also enable a range of high throughput applications
for pharmaceutical industry, biotechnology companies and stem cell biologists.

The proposed project will allow us to develop a novel 3d bioprinter to produce 3d tissues from human stem cells for animal
free drug testing, which has huge potential economic and societal impact in UK. In particular, the beneficiaries of this
project will come from the following distinct areas and industry sectors:
1. Impact on Stem Cell Research and Production: The ability to build uniform 3-dimensional tissue has important
applications throughout pharmaceutical industry and stem cell industry. The project will demonstrate the feasibility of
paradigm shifting technology of producing high quality tissues derived from human pluripotent stem cells. This project will
directly benefit pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries by providing high quality tissues that closely relevant to human for
toxicity testing. This could in turn reduce and eventually replace the need for animal testing, offering both economic and
societal benefits. In addition, this will have a significant economic impact on the efficiency and cost of stem cell derived
product and production optimisation. This should lower the overall cost of stem cell manufacturing thereby making
regenerative medicine therapeutics more affordable and accessible to the health service and patients.
2. Impact on Healthcare In the first instance, the cell printing tool has application to all fields of biomedical and clinical
research requiring cell culture, with notable potential in stem cell research, production and process development (biomanufacturing).
Therefore the primary benefit to healthcare will be acceleration of therapy development, particularly in fields of cell-based therapies and regenerative medicine where scale-up can be a block to widespread testing and
adoption. In future developments, the technology can be adapted for use as a medical device, providing bio-artificial
support for patients with end-stage organ disease. Finally, the programme of work could lead to direct in-situ printing tissue
on patients for treating and repairing damaged tissue or organ- benefitting the general public.
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3. Impact on Biofabrication: Academic researchers working in the field of emerging field of biofabrication (or 3-D bioprinting
for tissue and organ generation) will also benefit from this research through the creation of a next-generation bioprinting
tool. The novel bioprinting method could address some of pressing issues (eg. cell clogging and damage during printing
process) faced by existing bioprinting technologies, advancing an important step further to realise implantable printed
organ. Stem cell biologists moving from 2D culture to 3D tissue culture will need this powerful tool to study 3d cell-cell
interaction, cell-biomaterial interaction and cell differentiation under 3d niche.
4: Knowledge transfer: this project aims to the first stem cell bioprinter which could lead to enormous uptake of the
technology and system by industry. The knowledge transfer is particularly a strong point here, transferring lab research for
industrial product. There is strong potential for the creation of new IPR even within the tight timescale of the proposed
project. Through the close interactions and collaborations with our industrial partner -Renishaw Ltd, Clydebiosciences and
Roslin Cellab Ltd, it will greatly facilitate our research for commercial exploitation.