NEW YORK: US-based 3D bioprinting firm Organovo has set itself a challenge that could transform the future of medicine, and although the technology is still in its infancy and the challenges complex, the company’s founder and CEO Keith Murphy says his firm is in it for the long haul.
“Biotechnology is a very compelling space as you have the ability to impact people’s lives,” Murphy says. “I want to see patients benefiting. We want to help drugs get to patients faster, to get liver tissues (to prolong liver function) and to help people with chronic liver problems.”
While 3D printing has been around for over two decades, known in the manufacturing industry as “additive manufacturing” or “rapid prototyping” – a way to produce objects quickly without needing to wait weeks to receive the finished product from a factory in China – 3D printing human tissue is a completely new field.