Bico Group (previously Cellink) is a

bioconvergence Bioconvergence is a multidisciplinary method in life science. It uses the synergy between biotech, engineering and computerized systems to address unresolved challenges, like speeding up diagnostic processes, creating more advanced materials, ...

startup A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship refers to all new businesses, including self-employment and businesses that never intend t ...

that designs and supplies technologies and services to enhance biology research. It focuses on commercializing technologies for life science research as well as bioprinting, and its products often combine capabilities in

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech r ...

robotics Robotics is an interdisciplinarity, interdisciplinary branch of computer science and engineering. Robotics involves design, construction, operation, and use of robots. The goal of robotics is to design machines that can help and assist human ...

multiomics Multiomics, multi-omics, integrative omics, "panomics" or "pan-omics" is a biological analysis approach in which the data sets are multiple " omes", such as the genome, proteome, transcriptome, epigenome, metabolome, and microbiome (i.e., a met ...

, and

diagnostics Diagnosis is the identification of the nature and cause of a certain phenomenon. Diagnosis is used in many different disciplines, with variations in the use of logic, analytics, and experience, to determine "cause and effect". In systems engineer ...

. Bico Group (then Cellink) began by producing

bio-ink Bio-inks are materials used to produce engineered/artificial live tissue using 3D printing. These inks are mostly composed of the cells that are being used, but are often used in tandem with additional materials that envelope the cells. The combi ...

s and bioprinters for culturing different cell types to enable applications like patient-derived implants. Bico Group was the first company to provide a standardized bio-ink product for sale over the internet. The company has ongoing collaborations with organizations including

AstraZeneca AstraZeneca plc () is a British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with its headquarters at the Cambridge Biomedical Campus in Cambridge, England. It has a portfolio of products for major diseases in areas includ ...

MedImmune MedImmune, LLC was a wholly owned subsidiary of AstraZeneca before February 14, 2019, when it was announced that the MedImmune name and branding would be discontinued in favor of AstraZeneca. MedImmune was founded in 1988 as Molecular Vaccines, ...

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

and Takara Bio, and its bioprinters are used for research at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

Merck Merck refers primarily to the German Merck family and three companies founded by the family, including: * the Merck Group, a German chemical, pharmaceutical and life sciences company founded in 1668 ** Merck Serono (known as EMD Serono in the Unite ...

Novartis Novartis AG is a Swiss-American multinational pharmaceutical corporation based in Basel, Switzerland and Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States (global research).name="novartis.com">https://www.novartis.com/research-development/research-loc ...

, the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

Johnson & Johnson Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is an American multinational corporation founded in 1886 that develops medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and consumer packaged goods. Its common stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the company i ...

and more.

History

Bico Group was founded as Cellink in 2016 by

Erik Gatenholm Erik Gatenholm is a Swedish-American entrepreneur. He is credited with marketing the world's first universal bio-ink. Biography Gatenholm was raised mostly in Blacksburg, Virginia. He attended Blacksburg High School and studied Business Manag ...

, the company's chief executive, Héctor Martinez, the company's CTO and Gusten Danielsson, the company's CFO. They developed and sold the world's first universally compatible bio-ink to simplify bioprinting for academics and pharmaceutical companies who were, at that time, mixing their own biomaterial in-house. The company released its first bioprinter to test the market in 2015, and continued designing additional bio-inks to support more specialized applications in bioprinting. Ten months after it was founded, Cellink was listed publicly on the Nasdaq exchange First North. At its

IPO An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...

, shares were

oversubscribed Overselling or overbooking is sale of a volatile good or service in excess of actual supply. Overselling is a common practice in the travel and hospitality sectors, in which it is expected that some people will cancel. The practice occurs as an in ...

by 1070 percent. As the company's technology makes it possible to print tissues such as skin, liver, and cartilage, its technology also allows printing fully functional cancer tumors which can be used to develop new cancer treatment. In 2018, Cellink received a $2.5 million grant from the EU to fund its TumorPrint project. In 2017, the company was described as "a world leader in bioprinting". It established a United States headquarters in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

the same year. In January 2018, Cellink announced a collaboration with Ctibiotech to boost 3D bioprinting technology for cancer research. The company's revenue totaled $4.88 million in 2018. As of February 2019, its products are used by more than 600 labs in more than 50 countries. In August 2021, Cellink underwent a corporate transformation and changed name to BICO, while keeping the Cellink name for their bioprinting business. Bico Group acquired German biotechnology company Cytena in August 2019 for a purchase price of $33.8 million. Bico Group acquired Scienion, a global precision dispensing company, in 2020 for $94.8 million, along with its subsidiary Cellenion. Bico Group transitioned to a

company in 2020, expanding its focus from

bioprinting Three dimensional (3D) bioprinting is the utilization of 3D printing–like techniques to combine cells, growth factors, and/or biomaterials to fabricate biomedical parts, often with the aim of imitating natural tissue characteristics. Generally, 3 ...

to broader

life sciences This list of life sciences comprises the branches of science that involve the scientific study of life – such as microorganisms, plants, and animals including human beings. This science is one of the two major branches of natural science, th ...

technology and industrial solutions. The company develops and markets products that enable researchers to culture cells in 3D, perform high-throughput drug screening, and print human tissues and organs for use in medical, pharmaceutical and cosmetic applications. In May 2021, Bico Group acquired German 3D microfabrication company Nanoscribe for $70.6 million as well as the US-based contract research company Visikol for $7.5 million. In December 2021, Bico Group acquired the San Diego life-science automaton company Biosero for $165 million. In August 2023, after investing too much in marketing and not in R&D, the CEO leaves the company https://bico.com/single-press-release/?id=a4840f28-1823-4bab-a42e-db813d67e11f

Products

The bio-ink produced by the company contains

cellulose Cellulose is an organic compound with the formula , a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to many thousands of β(1→4) linked D-glucose units. Cellulose is an important structural component of the primary cell wall ...

and

alginate Alginic acid, also called algin, is a naturally occurring, edible polysaccharide found in brown algae. It is hydrophilic and forms a viscous gum when hydrated. With metals such as sodium and calcium, its salts are known as alginates. Its colour ...

, locally sourced from trees in Sweden and seaweed from the Norwegian Sea, respectively. Cellink's bio-ink technology was developed at

Chalmers University Chalmers University of Technology ( sv, Chalmers tekniska högskola, often shortened to Chalmers) is a Swedish university located in Gothenburg that conducts research and education in technology and natural sciences at a high international lev ...

References

{{reflist Emerging technologies 3D printer companies Companies based in Massachusetts Computer companies established in 2016 Manufacturing companies of the United States 2016 establishments in Massachusetts American companies established in 2016 Swedish companies established in 2016 Manufacturing companies established in 2016