CELLINK and Aether Open New Locations for 3D Bioprinting Businesses

CELLINK‘s global presence is growing. The bioprinting company has offices in the United States and Sweden, and now it has officially opened a new office at Kyoto University in Japan. The university, which was founded in 1897, is one of Japan’s most prestigious research institutions, having produced several Nobel laureates and winners of other international prizes. It will serve as a research base for CELLINK, as well as a means of collaborating with other Asian partners. CELLINK already has a substantial presence in the Asian market, with several distributors on the continent, and has decided to more firmly establish itself through its new office.

“Prior to our collaboration with Kyoto University, we admired their success, hard work and dedication in making an impact on medical research. Now that we are working alongside other brilliant minds around the world, the sky is the limit,” said Tomoko Bylund, CELLINK Sales Director for Asia. “We are extremely excited for what we can accomplish together, and we look forward to connecting with our Asian collaborators more frequently.”

Kyoto University’s Graduate School of Medicine is active in drug discovery and drug development. Recently, an anti-PD-1 antibody drug called Opdivo was introduced thanks to the efforts of Kyoto University’s Professor Tasuku Honjo and Professor Nagahiro Minato. CELLINK, as the developer of the first bioink for 3D printing living tissue, should fit right in to that environment. Kyoto University’s Innovation Hub Kyoto, where the new office will be located, has dedicated facilities for things like drug development, and expanded support for developing medical and diagnostic devices.

“Kyoto University’s Graduate School of Medicine is actively supporting the creation of businesses in the healthcare field based on the academic knowledge at the Innovation Hub Kyoto,” said Dr. Yutaka Teranishi, Deputy Director of the Medical Innovation Center at Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine. “We are attracting companies that can cooperate through our cutting-edge technology and developmental skills. CELLINK, who now holds an office here, is a startup company from Sweden. We are expecting that the advanced technology of CELLINK will accelerate not only Kyoto University but our academic research. I hope that our collaboration will contribute to the advancement in human welfare.”

CELLINK isn’t the only bioprinting company with a new residence.

Aether – maker of the Aether 1 bioprinter that has seen beta units at Stanford University, the University of Cambridge, and CSIC and Queensland University of Technology – has announced that it is now a resident company at Johnson & Johnson Innovation, JLABS @ QB3, located in the University of California’s QB3 @ 953 Indiana Street facility. The research facilities at JLABS will give Aether access to equipment as well as expertise to support its research and development of advanced biomaterials, 3D bioprinting technologies, and more.

“Wikipedia lists Johnson and Johnson as the world’s largest pharmaceutical company by revenue and market cap,” Aether CEO Ryan Franks told 3DPrint.com. “To be able to benefit from the immense resources of Johnson and Johnson Innovation’s JLABS is incredible and just what we need in order to make sure our new technologies benefit humanity on a larger and more powerful scale.   In 5 years JLABS alumni companies have collectively gone on to secure $9.4 billion through financing and strategic relationships, 5 IPOs and 8 acquisitions. We see being a JLABS resident company as a massive opportunity.”

Dr. Karen Dubbin, Aether Science Director, will lead Aether’s biomaterials research at the incubator. She has already played a large role in establishing Stanford University‘s bio-ink program, as well as doing valuable work in materials science at MIT.

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