BICO : has acquired HUREL micro liver technologies to offer the market's most comprehensive liver in vitro services

BICO, leading in Bio Convergence, has acquired the assets and operations of HUREL Corp. (HUREL), an American leading life sciences company focused on providing its customers with two-dimensional liver co-culture models and assay services. The acquired assets and operations of HUREL will be integrated into Visikol, a subsidiary in BICO.

The addition of the HUREL liver co-culture models provides the market's most comprehensive liver in vitro model and assay offerings to meet the diverse requirements of its customers. BICO has acquired assets and operations of HUREL for a purchase price of approximately USD 2.5 million. Visikol as a company recognizes that customers always need tailor made solutions for in vitro models, and that every in vitro assay is a balance between cost, throughput and in vivo relevancy depending on a customer's needs and their stage in the drug discovery process. The addition of the HUREL portfolio of liver 2D co-culture models now provides the Group with a simpler, but highly relevant, 2D cell culture system which has been shown through peer-reviewed studies to produce the longest-enduring, phenotypically stable, and metabolically competent 2D cell culture models of any advanced liver tissue construct developed in the world to date.

The HUREL 2D co-culture models have been leveraged for preclinical assessment of clearance rates of metabolically stable compounds, metabolite generation and identification, induction and inhibition of enzymatic action, biliary efflux of chemical entities; prediction of general cytotoxicity and hepatoxicity, mitochondrial toxicity, cholestatic liability, hepatotoxicity arising from the formation of reactive metabolites; and the study of viral replication underlying hepatotropic disease.

The HUREL products and services have been adopted by top-ranking pharma and biotech companies in the United States, Europe, and around the world. The HUREL portfolio of products and services will now be sold by Visikol, with the HUREL team integrated into Visikol. BICO sees synergies with HUREL's advanced product portfolio and other parts of the Group, such as for MatTek customers.

"HUREL is a company we have had our eyes on for a long time as they had an incredibly well-validated liver cell culture model that helped meet a client need that we were unable to match. Their models and services fit perfectly into our portfolio, and we are incredibly delighted to have them join Visikol," described Visikol CEO Michael Johnson, PhD.

The acquisition of HUREL and the liver models provides the Group with one more tool to help researchers with accelerating their drug discovery and development efforts. Specifically, the models align well with BICO's existing portfolio of advanced cell culture products and services and facilitate the companies' mission of helping researchers in their drug development processes as well as reducing the number of animals used during the process.

For further information, please contact:

Isabelle Ljunggren, Head of Communications Phone (Sweden): [phone] Email: [e-mail]

BICO Press office  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 September 15, 2021, at 8pm (CEST).

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.

With a focus on the application areas of bioprinting, multiomics, cell line development, and diagnostics, the company develops and markets innovative technologies that 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 products are trusted by more than 2,000 laboratories, including all the top 20 pharmaceutical companies, are being used in more than 65 countries, and have been cited in more than 9,000 publications. BICO is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm under BICO. www.bico.com

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