Bio-Printing Could Be Banned Or Regulated In Two Years
Bio-printing has been touted as the pinnacle of additive manufacturing and medical science, but what if it might be shut down before it splashes onto the medical scene. Research firm, Gartner Inc believes that the rapid development of bio-printing will spark calls to ban the technology for human and non-human tissue within two years.
A report released by Gartner predicts that the time is drawing near when 3D-bioprinted human organs will be readily available, causing widespread debate. They use an example of 3D printed liver tissue by a San Diego-based company named Organovo.
“At one university, they’re actually using cells from human and non-human organs,” said Pete Basiliere, a Gartner Research Director. “In this example, there was human amniotic fluid, canine smooth muscle cells, and bovine cells all being used. Some may feel those constructs are of concern.”
Bio-printing
Bio-printing uses extruder needles or inkjet-like printers to lay down rows of living cells. Major challenges still face the technology, such as creating vascular structures to support tissue with oxygen and nutrients. Additionally, creating the connective tissue or scaffolding-like structures to support functional tissue is still a barrier that bio-printing will have to overcome.
Organovo has worked around a number of issues and they hope to print a fully functioning liver for pharmaceutical industry by the end of this year. “We have achieved thicknesses of greater than 500 microns, and have maintained liver tissue in a fully functional state with native phenotypic behavior for at least 40 days,” said Mike Renard, Organovo’s executive vice president of commercial operations.
clinical trails and testing of organs could take over a decade in the U.S. This is because of the strict rules the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) places on any new technology. Bio-printing research could outplace regulatory agencies ability to keep up.
“What’s going to happen, in some respects, is the research going on worldwide is outpacing regulatory agencies ability to keep up,” Basiliere said. “3D bio-printing facilities with the ability to print human organs and tissue will advance far faster than general understanding and acceptance of the ramifications of this technology.”
Other companies have been successful with bio-printing as well. Munich-based EnvisionTEC is already selling a printer called a Bioplotter that sells for $188,000 and can print 3D pieces of human tissue. China’s Hangzhou Dianzi University has developed a printer called Regenovo, which printed a small working kidney that lasted four months.
“These initiatives are well-intentioned, but raise a number of questions that remain unanswered. What happens when complex enhanced organs involving nonhuman cells are made? Who will control the ability to produce them? Who will ensure the quality of the resulting organs?” Basiliere said.
Gartner believes demand for bio-printing will explode in 2015, due to a burgeoning population and insufficient levels of healthcare in emerging markets. “The overall success rates of 3D printing use cases in emerging regions will escalate for three main reasons: the increasing ease of access and commoditization of the technology; ROI; and because it simplifies supply chain issues with getting medical devices to these regions,” Basiliere said. “Other primary drivers are a large population base with inadequate access to healthcare in regions often marred by internal conflicts, wars or terrorism.”
It’s interesting to hear Gartner’s bold predictions for bio-printing. Some of the experts we have talked to seem to think bio-printing is further off than many expect, possibly even 20 or 30 years away for fully functioning organs used in transplants on humans. However, less complicated bio-printing procedures and tissue is only a few years away.
