Chennai Startup’s Game-Changing Bio 3D Printer Prints Human Tissues

In a significant breakthrough earlier this month, Avay Biosciences, a Chennai-based deep tech startup, launched their indigenous ‘state-of-the-art’ bio 3D printer that can print human tissues. 

Called ‘Mito Plus’, the printer was launched during the Bengaluru Tech Summit held between 16 and 18 November 2022. This milestone is important, but why? 

Before answering this question, it’s imperative to understand what bioprinting is. It’s a method of tissue replication that uses ‘bioinks’, which are engineered to print artificial living tissues like skin. 

What exactly are bioinks? 

Speak to Better India, Manish Amin, CEO of Avay Biosciences, says, “Bioinks are gels or pastes which contain two key components — the cells for the type of tissue we are targeting, and biomaterial that can support the cells and aid their growth. The chemical processing of natural resources like cartilage, bone and meat allows for the creation biomaterials such as collagen and gelatin. They imitate the cell’s environment as it would have been within the body, and so are used as support structures (scaffolds) upon which cells grow and connect.”

In a recent release issued by Avay Biosciences, they note, “Bioinks are materials engineered to allow the specific type of cells to grow and multiply while supporting the tissue’s structure.” 

You can broadly divide them into these categories:

• Structural – These inks are used to create frameworks or supports for the structure.

• Sacrificial – These inks are aimed at supporting structures during the printing process but are later removed or consumed by the cells to be replaced by their own materials. 

• Functional – These inks are used to guide a specific function like cellular growth, development and differentiation.

Does Mito Plus print human tissue or is this essentially making human tissue new? These bioprinted tissues are very similar to human tissue in the body. 

Manish notes, “Printing tissue currently means using bioinks — cells mixed in biomaterial — to create scaffolds. Incubation is necessary to allow the scaffolds to develop and grow in the correct environment. These complex scaffolds can be compared to actual tissue by researchers. Identifying these differences would lead to huge steps forward in understanding and artificially growing entire organs — something that globally we are still aspiring to achieve.”

Evolution of the bio-3D printer 

IISc in Bangalore installed the first prototype for Mito Plus. The advanced version of the bio 3-D printer we can see today was created with inputs from the prototype developed by Dr Bikramjit Baseu’s research laboratory. 

Avay Biosciences offers completely in-house development of software and hardware to create end-to-end 3D printer solutions for India.

“We originally built the Mito Basic prototype. This was easy to do and took only four months. Many college students are now trying to make their own bioprinters at home. Moving from prototype to production was the challenge. Are all software issues fixed? Can the printing be repeated? Can we provide better quality parts and features?” asks Manish.  

All this led to them expanding their design, manufacturing, electrical and software teams to build something that soon was far removed from the original version — a true bioprinter. 

“There were many small improvements along the way — adding systems for temperature control, many trials of different UV bulbs and LEDs, and after many mistakes, we now have a system that is ready to launch in the market. But, it is not perfect. We will continue to resolve existing issues and develop new and innovative features that our customers keep asking for until our printer is the default for all tissue engineering research,” he adds. 

Avay Biosciences is the first company to develop 3D printers. Around 70% of production takes place in Chennai or Bengaluru. Their software development team is dedicated to continually adding features and improving the software.

‘State of the art’

“MITO plus is one of the most advanced bioprinters in its price range. You can print many biomaterials with this printer. It also includes UV curing. HEPA filters can also be used. Another feature of this printer is its temperature control. This allows the printhead to cool down to 4° Celsius and heat up to 80° Celsius. The MITO Plus can be used in pharmaceutical drug discovery or testing. It can also be used in cancer biology and cosmetology applications,” says Manish.

These features are what make bioprinting possible. Many biomaterials are quite temperature-sensitive and require precise environmental conditions. 

“By controlling the extrusion temperature, the viscosity of the material can be controlled to an extent. This feedback was provided by Dr Bikramjit Basu, a key collaborator in bone tissue development, and Dr Prajakata jain (ICT), Mumbai) for skin tissue engineering. Hence, this is an important feature we wanted to develop,” explains Suhridh Sundaram, chief operating officer, Avay Biosciences.  

“This allows the researchers to be able to adjust the printing parameters and fine-tune it for precise scaffolds. UV light is a good way to cure some materials. Since these materials are gels, to achieve more layers we need such curing or else the bottom layers get compressed and do not maintain structural integrity,” he adds.

Future applications

A subset within the wider 3D printing market, bioprinting. Most 3D printing is done with plastics, but bioprinting can be achieved using live cells or gel-like polymers. 

The principle of bioprinters is the same as those used in 3D printing, but there’s one important difference. Bioprinters don’t deliver metal, plastic or powders. Instead, they deposit layers of biomaterials. These biomaterials may contain living cells that can be used to create complex structures such as skin and liver tissue. 

“3D bioprinting is a unique gift to humanity by science and technology. There are still many problems to solve. There is still a long way to go before we can create fully functioning and viable organs for human transplant,” says Manish.

Because of the importance of future research, it is crucial that bioprinters are affordable. In India, alone, thousands die each year due to the shortage of donors. Transplants, even when a donor is found, can be more expensive than Rs 10 Lakh, and that does not include anti-rejection medications.

Suhridh explains “Our approach to the creation of entirely new organs begins with the journey of creating new tissue samples — a critical stepping stone for a very long-term and difficult journey. In collaboration with ICT Mumbai, we are working on having our printers develop skin — the most common type of layered tissue that could help victims of severe burns. They can be used to create toxicology screens or other testing methods. People can contact us for more details on the research being conducted, and how we can help your mission.”

Meanwhile, Manis adds, “There are other applications. For pharmaceutical companies, to be able to test drugs on lab-grown tissue instead of facing regulatory hurdles of animal trials and human clinical trials would greatly accelerate our capability for research into new molecules, and identify risks much earlier on, thereby saving research costs that do not bear fruition.”

Avay is able to build a bio-3D printer which can create artificial organs without the need for transplants. 

“Avay is very far indeed from artificial organs. It is still a vast area of research that must be completed. The research is multidisciplinary. It would require the help of both tissue engineering scientists and material researchers to create the best biomaterial scaffolds. This will also involve the aid of stem cell and transplant medicine professionals and surgeons in order to determine the best method for implanting these organs. We continuously take feedback from all these relevant parties and are working on the engineering as well as biomaterial side for now to give researchers the best solutions that can be imagined,” notes Manish. 

The startup has already partnered with top research and development institutions across India, including IIT Madras and ICT-Mumbai. Startups like Avay Biosciences are leading in India’s private sector. 

As per several reports, there is a global 3D printing market that is worth USD 1.3 billion at the end of 2022. It is expected to rise to USD 3.3 billion by 2030, according to projections. It is in high demand both within the cosmetology and pharmaceutical industries.

Avay Biosciences can be found on their website. Images courtesy of Avay Biosciences.

(Edited By Divya Sathu