SAN DIEGO and ORLANDO - Dec. 8, 2010 - Organovo, Inc., a regenerative medicine company focused on bioprinting technology, today announced the release of data on the first fully bioprinted blood vessels. Data was presented at the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS) meeting in Orlando, Florida. The blood vessels were created through the use of the NovoGen MMX Bioprinter, Organovo’s proprietary platform for the creation of 3D tissue constructs.
Dr. Craig Kent, Chief of Surgery at the University of Wisconsin and an Organovo Scientific Advisory Board Member commented, “This is exciting progress towards functional human arterial grafts. Success in an effort like this could eventually help tens of thousands of patients.”
“These vessels are the world’s first arteries made solely from cells of an individual person,” said Keith Murphy, Chief Executive Officer of Organovo. “Our results show the power of the NovoGen bioprinting technology to create tissue starting only with cells.”
The blood vessels are printed from the elements of native arteries: primary endothelial, smooth muscle and fibroblast cells from human donors. Dr. Chirag Khatiwala, Senior Scientist at Organovo, presented a review of the program in an oral presentation at the TERMIS scientific meeting.
“These results highlight the power of the NovoGen MMX Bioprinter,” said Dr. Khatiwala. “The cell viability and flexibility that the platform enables has allowed rapid progress towards this and other tissue types, and the goal of providing tissue on demand.”
About Organovo, Inc.
Organovo is a regenerative medicine company focused on delivering breakthrough human tissue printing technology and creating tissue on demand for research and surgical applications. The company’s NovoGen three-dimensional bioprinting technology is a platform that works across all tissue and cell types. Organovo is helping physicians and researchers fulfill the promise of regenerative medicine by overcoming critical problems in cardiovascular medicine, medical research, and transplant medicine. Organovo technology leads the way in solving complex medical problems with one overarching goal: to benefit the health and lives of patients. www.organovo.com