Printing tissues and mini-organs has recently been achieved by using modified ink-jet printer technology in the field of biofabrication. The novel method of direct printing live cells opens up new paradigm in tissue science for drug discovery and therapeutic applications. This project aims to develop the first commercial stem cell bioprinter based on the valve-based printing methods pioneered at Heriot-Watt University, capable of printing human embryonic stem cells without damage. We will develop a new printer by integrating a 3D printing platform with optimised valve based cell printing technology. The new platform will then be validated for producing human heart tissues using human induced pluripotent stem cells by leading specialists Roslin Cellab Ltd. The new tool will not only allow us to produce high quality human tissue for potentially more reliable animal free drug testing, but also enable a range of high throughput applications for pharmaceutical industry, biotechnology companies and stem cell biologists.

The pharmaceutical industry is in urgent need of tests that are better able to predict the clinical effectiveness and safety of new drug therapies. Current approaches are over-reliant on animal models that may not reflect human responses to drugs and often do not select drugs that translate into safe, effective treatment of diseases. Indeed around 90% of drugs entering clinical trials fail to reach the market, with safety liabilities explaining 20% of the failures. To address this problem, Biopta is developing a range of predictive tests using ethically-donated human tissues. A major drug safety concern is cardiac safety and toxicity; Biopta has already developed and offers to the market robust assays to detect drug-mediated changes in coronary blood flow and contractility. The feasibility study will investigate whether this can be extended to provide the first commercially available tests that can predict drug-induced cardiac arrythymias.