Pandorum Technologies, a biotechnology startup which is working on tissue engineering, has developed artificial tissue that performs the functions of the human liver. These 3D printed living tissues enable affordable medical research with reduced animal and human trials, and will eventually lead to full scale transplantable organs. The company is supported by grants from the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), government of India, and is located in the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP), Bengaluru Bio-Cluster.

The artificial liver tissues not only represent a major step towards on-demand manufacturing of human organs for transplant, but also have potential to be a game changer for developing new medicines and vaccines.

“This is a significant milestone. Being able to engineer complex tissues such as the human liver is no easy task,” said Dr. Tuhin Bhowmick, co-founder, Pandorum Technologies.

“Development of artificial organs has numerous clinical uses. Cell based organoids can be used to develop bio-artificial liver support systems for preserving life in patients who have developed liver failure. In the near future, such bio-printed organs will address the acute shortage of human organs available for surgical transplantation,” he added.

“Liver toxicity and drug metabolism are the key hurdles, and contributors to failed human trials. Our 3D bio-printed mini-livers that mimic the human liver will serve as test platforms for discovery and development of drugs with better efficacy, less side-effects and at lower costs,” said Arun Chandru, co-founder and managing director, Pandorum Technologies.

Pharma giants on an average spend over US$10 billion for R&D to get a single new drug to market with the approval USFDA approval. The global market for in vitro toxicity testing alone is expected to reach US$ 4 billion by 2018.

“Our technology has the potential to impact millions of live. This is multi-billion dollar fast growing market opportunity, and we intend to continue being a leader,” said Chandru.

The company was founded in 2011 by academic entrepreneurs to work on design and manufacturing of functional human tissues for medical research, therapeutic and other applications.