Johnson & Johnson to research 3D bioprinted organs in Ireland

Medical and pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson is opening a dedicated 3D bioprinting lab at Ireland’s Trinity College Dublin. The lab will occupy a 100-square-meter space at the university’s Biomedical Sciences Institute building.

The best research is often the result of public-private partnerships. With the financial muscle and global experience of Johnson & Johnson and the academic nous of Trinity College Dublin’s AMBER center, a new collaboration in Ireland looks set to make huge strides in 3D bioprinting research.

Johnson & Johnson, which has previously worked with 3D printing company Carbon and biotech company Aspect Biosystems, will establish its new 3D bioprinting laboratory in a 100-square-meter space at Trinity College Dublin’s Biomedical Sciences Institute building. There, the lab will be jointly led by AMBER’s Prof Daniel Kelly and Johnson & Johnson’s lead API and bioprinting researcher Joseph Ault.

The laboratory equipment will be made available to students and other principal investigators, though Johnson & Johnson will initially use the space to conduct research projects focused on orthopedics. In the longer term, the healthcare company will offer its internal scientific experts as adjunct professors.

The laboratory, which could be opened by the end of 2018, will contain equipment for bioprinting and cell and tissue culture, and will function as a meeting and office space for 12 people.

“This lab is the result of a shared vision to create a global center of excellence for 3D bioprinting within the center,” said AMBER’s director, Prof Michael Morris. “This has been made possible because of the calibre of our world-leading academics, state-of-the-art equipment, and supporting facilities and infrastructure.”

Willem Appelo, Johnson & Johnson’s vice-president of supply chain in its medical devices business, added that his company’s work at the bioprinting lab “will advance opportunities to design and deliver a broad range of personalized, bioprinted healthcare solutions for the patients and consumers we serve every day.”

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