OxSyBio has created technology to 3D-print tissue-like synthetic materials for medical research and clinical applications.
OxSyBio, a UK-based 3D bioprinting spinout from University of Oxford, secured an undisclosed amount yesterday from investors including Parkwalk Advisors, the fund manager owned by commercialisation firm IP Group.
IP Group previously provided OxSyBio with an initial investment of $1.7m, subject to milestones, when the spinout launched in 2014.
OxSyBio has developed a 3D-printing technique capable of producing human cell-like structures which are protected by nanolitre-sized droplets and lipid coating to help prevent them from collapsing in on themselves – mimicking the cell membrane.
The resulting structure can be folded into complex geometries.
The research made headlines in 2013 when it was featured on the cover of Science magazine. Long-term, OxSyBio hopes to refine the technology to offer organ repair or replacement capabilities.
Alexander Graham, who wrote his PhD in chemical biology at Oxford on designing and implementing a 3D bioprinter, helms OxSyBio’s research as lead biofabrication scientist.
OxSyBio was spun out from the Hagan Bayley research laboratory in University of Oxford’s Department of Chemistry, a group which focuses on protein chemistry, molecular genetics, biophysics and cell biology.
