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Carcinotech and CELLINK plan to revolutionize the drug discovery market by leveraging CELLINK’s bioprinting solutions and Carcinotech’s expertise in producing 3D bioprinted living tumors to provide protocols for users to develop cutting-edge cancer models.

(October 4^th 2023, Gothenburg, Sweden) Carcinotech and CELLINK are pleased to announce a collaborative partnership to develop and commercialize protocols for the biofabrication of 3D bioprinted tumor models based on cancer cell lines that improve accuracy and rapidly speed up drug development processes, driving down development costs and enabling an improved output. The protocols will be available for use on the BIO CELLX system offered by CELLINK.

Globally, an estimated 19.3 million cancer cases occurred in 2020 alone, with a fatality rate of almost 10.0 million cancer deaths, with breast (11.7%), lung (11.4%), colorectal (10%) and prostate (7.3%) being the most fatal. While cancer continues to affect millions, there are still a limited number of effective therapies available, and those that are available, have a high degree of variation from patient to patient.

Carcinotech has established itself as a leader in producing 3D bioprinted Micro-Tumors as well as 3D models based on cancer cell lines, incorporating CELLINK’s technology for automated workflows that have been perfected over the last 3 years. Working with patient-derived biopsies, immune cells and cancer stem cells to develop 3D bioprinted Micro-Tumors, Carcinotech has been providing the pharmaceutical sector with crucial services in assisting researchers to optimize drug testing workflows. The protocols on the BIO CELLX will leverage cell line based 3D models and will greatly accelerate research timelines. The 3D Cancer Cell Line Models have been developed to include the physiological representative ratio of 5 key cell types relevant to each cancer with widely available cell lines.

“We are looking forward to seeing the impact of this partnership on the oncology research community and look forward to the advancements that will be made in cancer research through the use of Carcinotech’s optimized cancer models. Combining Carcinotech’s in depth understanding of cancer, and CELLINK’s BIO CELLX system’s precision and reproducibility, we hope to provide a new degree of efficiency to cancer research workflows,” said Cecilia Edebo, CEO CELLINK

Each of the protocols will enable 3D bioprinted cancer models that have undergone rigorous quality control measures, ensuring their dependability. As part of this agreement between CELLINK and Carcinotech, the protocols will be made available on CELLINK’s BIO CELLX 3D biodispenser. The BIO CELLX is the premier biodispensing system, providing customers with the ability to automate 3D cell culture workflows.  By offering these protocols, CELLINK and Carcinotech will enable drug development researchers to rapidly increase speed as well as accuracy of results.

CELLINK and Carcinotech entered their first partnership in 2020 to further advance 3D bioprinting technology for cancer research. This initial collaboration leveraged Carcinotech’s vast expertise in patient derived tumor replicas and CELLINK’s innovative bioinks, Extra Cellular Matrix (ECM) and Laminin based Bioinks, which enable human cells to grow and thrive as they would in the human body.

“We are excited to continue working with CELLINK, a global leader in 3D bioprinting. Their unique technology as well as high quality bioink, provide revolutionary capabilities to the wider life science and drug discovery market. Their extensive knowledge in 3D bioprinting combined with our expertise in oncology and 3D modelling will help fulfil our shared commitment to accelerate oncology drug development pipelines,” said Ishani Malhotra, CEO and Founder of Carcinotech.

For further information, please contact:

Avijit Minocha, Head of Marketing, CELLINK
Phone: +1 617 637 5372
Email: akm@cellink.com

About CELLINK

CELLINK is enabling the future of health as part of BICO, the world’s leading bioconvergence company. When CELLINK  released  the  first  universal  bioink  in  2016,  it  democratized  the  cost  of  entry  for researchers around the world and played a major role in turning the then up-and-coming field of 3D bioprinting into a thriving $1 billion industry. Today, the company’s best-in-class bioinks, bioprinters, software and services have been cited in over 1000 publications and are trusted by more than 1,600 academic,  pharmaceutical  and  industrial  labs. With a comprehensive  portfolio  of  world-class  3D bioprinters and bioinks CELLINK’s technology enables the printing of human tissues and organs, which enable faster and more accurate models for drug development, while replacing animal experiments and paving the way to save lives by reducing organ rejection and potentially solve the problem with lack of donors. 2022 CELLINK made a strategic investment to reach our business mission and continue to  push  the  boundaries  of  how  3D  bioprinting  can  contribute  to  the  future  of  health. Visit www.cellink.com to learn more. BICO is listed on the Nasdaq Stockholm Main Market under BICO.

About Carcinotech

Carcinotech is revolutionising cancer research by manufacturing 3D-printed micro-tumours using patient-derived biopsies, primary cells, immune cells, and cancer stem cells. Our advanced offering provides a platform for rapid, ethical, and accurate drug screening, pre-clinical, and personalised medicine testing. Carcinotech’s goal is to accelerate drug screening and enable the delivery of more effective cancer treatments to market. Using patient biopsies, tissue engineering, advanced robotic manufacturing, and quality control to produce highly predictive, assay-ready printed tumours at significant throughput. This provides our clients with a “clinical biopsy” quality model, using isolated patient-specific cells and representing donor-specific cancer heterogeneity. Our vision is to be at the forefront of cancer drug testing and provide personalised medicine testing to each individual suffering from cancer to better their chance of treatment and survival. Working with global partners, leading pharma companies, surgeons, pathologists, and clinicians Carcinotech is changing the face of oncology drug development by working to make this vision a reality.