BICO and Nanochon Announce Commercial Agreement to Develop 3D Printed Joint Restoration Implant

The first stage of the agreement amounts to USD 1.5M for contract manufacturing services from BICO's company SCIENION with the opportunity for additional manufacturing support over the coming decade as the technology commercializes

Today BICO, a leading bio convergence company, announced a partnership with Nanochon, a startup developing regenerative joint replacements. Under the terms of the deal, Nanochon will purchase USD 1.5M worth of products and services from BICO's SCIENION to develop 3D printed regenerative joint implants. Nanochon's novel joint implant technology promises to deliver faster and more successful recoveries for patients, while reducing costs to health providers, insurance companies and patients.

Joint replacement surgery has emerged as one of the most common surgeries among the fast-aging U.S. population - with more than 7 million occurring each year. In fact, the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services estimates that aging Americans will drive annual healthcare spending to USD 6 trillion by 2027, with much of that coming from aging-related disorders like osteoporosis. Current joint replacements typically fail after 15-20 years due to a lack of organic cartilage growth, and the highly disruptive nature of the surgery. Nanochon's novel regenerative method solves this by replacing a highly invasive replacement surgery with a minimally invasive procedure, where 3D printed structures made of a novel polymer nano-material are implanted into damaged cartilage to promote healthy cartilage growth.  

"Nanochon's approach to regenerative joint replacement has the potential to improve the lives of tens of millions of people each year," says Erik Gatenholm, CEO and co-founder of BICO. "We're thrilled to leverage BICO's bio automation manufacturing and technology expertise to help bring this product to millions of patients around the world."

As part of the deal, BICO's company SCIENION will serve as contract manufacturer for cartilage resurfacing implants for Nanochon. The process will leverage several key technologies from the BICO portfolio to enable this first of its kind solution. The contract will also make SCIENION a key manufacturing partner for Nanochon over the coming decade.

"We are excited that our bio automation services will enable the manufacturing of the 3D joint implants," says Dr. Holger Eickhoff, CEO of SCIENION.

"It is very exciting to have the strategic support of the BICO group," says Ben Holmes, CEO and co-founder of Nanochon. "We have had a clear vision of helping sufferers of joint disease with our technology, and this partnership will greatly accelerate Nanochon to the clinic and the market."

BICO is also investing USD 400,000 in Nanochon's Seed funding round to help advance Nanochon's regenerative medicine technology, a key part of BICO's Next Generation Core Industrial Ecosystems, namely Tissue Engineering. Nanochon will use the new funding to help scale its manufacturing processes and accelerate its clinical trials.

Companies interested in technology partnerships with BICO, please contact Paul Berning, Head of Business Development at BICO at: [e-mail].

To read statistics from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, please visit: www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Statistics-Trends-and-Reports/NationalHealthExpendData/NHE-Fact-Sheet

For further information, please contact:

BICO Press office US
Phone (US):
Riley Munks, PR Manager: [phone]
Alyssa D'Orazio, PR Manager: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

This information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact persons set out above, on December 9, 2021, at 9am (CET).

About BICO

Founded in 2016, BICO (formerly CELLINK) is the leading bio convergence company in the world. By combining different technologies, such as robotics, artificial intelligence, computer science, and 3D bioprinting with biology, we enable our customers to improve people's health and lives for the better. 

The company has a focus on developing technologies that will advance Health 4.0 Next Generation Core Industry Ecosystems that enable tissue engineering, diagnostics, multiomics, and cell line development. BICO's technologies enable researchers in the life sciences to culture cells in 3D, perform high-throughput drug screening and print human tissues and organs for the medical, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries. We create the future of health. 

The Group's instruments in the field amounts to 25,000, including all the top 20 pharmaceutical companies, are being used in more than 65 countries, and have been cited in more than 9,500 publications. BICO is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm under BICO. www.bico.com

About Nanochon

Nanochon is a medical device company commercializing regenerative 3D printed products for soft tissue repair in orthopedics. Their first product, Chondrograft ™, is a 3D printed polymer implant which fills and regenerates damaged areas of the cartilage surface in joints, typically associated with sports injuries and osteoarthritis. These types of injuries, if left untreated, cause the patient pain, lead to the development of advanced joint disease, and the need for knee replacement surgery. Nanochon's ultimate goal is to commercialize a treatment which will have much better outcomes and be widely accessible to patients and surgeons.

Chondrograft ™ is not an FDA approved product. 

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