Biology company Organovo Holdings Inc. has formed a collaboration with Yale School of Medicine, Department of Surgery to develop bioprinted tissues for surgical transplantation research, made possible by a gift from the medical charity Methuselah Foundation.

At any given time, the waiting lists for critical organ transplants are three to five times as long as the list of available organs. In addition, other transplantable tissues, such as blood vessels, lung, and bone, are also in high demand with few sources.

“Developing organs for surgical implantation will take meaningful efforts and focused partnerships. This collaboration with Yale, which combines their expertise and technology with our own, is one important step in progressing towards implantable, therapeutic tissues,” says Keith Murphy, chairman and CEO of Organovo. “We are grateful to the Methuselah Foundation for their generous gift that gives those working towards significant breakthroughs in organ bioprinting an opportunity to use the NovoGen bioprinter and enable greater access to Organovo’s powerful platform.”

The fast-growing field of tissue engineering developed to address the shortage of tissues available for repair and transplantation. At Yale’s School of Engineering & Applied Science and Yale’s Department of Surgery clinicians and basic scientists are working to combine tissue engineering technologies with medical therapies.

“We are excited to begin this collaboration with Organovo and are honored to be part of Methuselah’s University 3D Bioprinter Program, which gives our key researchers access to cutting-edge 3D bioprinting technology,” says Dr. John Geibel, Vice Chairman, Director of Surgical Research, and Professor of Surgery and Cellular and Molecular Physiology at Yale University. “This collaboration is a great way to bring the best minds of both worlds to solve a major research and medical goal – using bioprinting to produce transplantable tissues.”

Under Methuselah’s University 3D Bioprinter Program, Methuselah is donating at least $500,000 in direct funding to be divided among several institutions for Organovo bioprinter research projects. This funding will cover budgeted bioprinter costs, as well as other aspects of project execution.

“We at the Methuselah Foundation have been a long-time supporter of academic and industry research in 3D bioprinting, regenerative medicine, and tissue engineering,” says David Gobel, CEO of the Methuselah Foundation. “Our University 3D Bioprinter Program puts Organovo’s breakthrough 3D bioprinting technology in the hands of the brightest scientists at tissue engineering centers of excellence.”

Organovo designs and creates functional, three-dimensional human tissues for use in medical research and therapeutic applications. The Company develops 3D human disease models through internal development and in collaboration with pharmaceutical and academic partners. Organovo’s 3D human tissues have the potential to accelerate the drug discovery process, enabling treatments to be developed faster and at lower cost.

Release Date: December 3, 2014
Source: Organovo