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愈合形状, a Lyon, France-based regenerative medicine startup, has raised $6.8 million in Series A funding to develop 3D bioprinted breast implants using living patient cells.
The firm is supported byPulsalys SAS自2020年1月推出以来，一家技术转移加速公司，已经从法国获得了超过一百万美元的公共资金和补贴。
愈合形状’s mission is to provide patient-specific 3D bioprinted breast implants for women who have undergone a mastectomy procedure after breast cancer. These implants can be printed in virtually any shape and size, and help reconstruct both the breast volume and the nipple-areolar complex without the risk of implant rejection.
“A woman will recover her own breast within six to nine months, with no trace of the bioprosthesis,” says Sophie Brac de la Perrière, CEO of Healshape. “This will help women accept their image and be happy with their bodies again.”
Over two million a year
根据World Health Organization, over two million women worldwide are diagnosed with breast cancer every year. It is the world’s most prevalent cancer in women with almost 700,000 annual deaths.
Around 40% of those diagnosed with the condition end up having to undergo a mastectomy, a procedure that involves either partial or full removal of the affected breast tissue. With modern-day treatments, however, survival rates are greater than 90%, meaning more and more women are seeking breast reconstruction treatments to replace the lost tissue.
其中许多其乳房重建手术lve using either an artificial implant or soft tissue matrices from other humans and animals. Unfortunately, implants from these sources can result in too much variability for treatments to be considered reliable and there’s always the risk of an immune response, which can slow down the healing process.
愈合形状’s tissue engineering approach aims to address these issues by combining 3D bioprinting technology with living cell cultures taken from the patients themselves.
可生物打印可吸收的乳房植入物
The company’s bioprosthesis technology relies on a resorbable hydrogel that can be 3D bioprinted into any freeform shape. Once implanted in the patient, a fat transfer of the patient’s own body cells helps colonize the breast implant and develop it into natural breast tissue, all while the hydrogel is gradually resorbed and replaced.
愈合形状’s technology is the result of extensive bioprinting studies conducted in collaboration with a research group led by Christophe Marquette, a CNRS senior researcher at theChimie et biochimieMoléculairesetsupramoléculaires(ICBMS). Marquette also leads the3d.FAB platform和founded实验室创作，一家组织工程公司。Healthape的生物学技术现已受到专利保护。
Marquette adds, “Initially, the technology was developed to print skin substitutes. For the Healshape project, it was necessary to adapt the process to printing volumes, and ensure subsequent consolidation of the biological ink to make it compatible with implantation in the body.”
愈合形状’s 3D bioprinting technology is currently at the preclinical stage, with clinical trials expected to commence within the next two years.
Just recently, Korea-based biotech startupplcoskinannounced that it’s set to lead an international joint research project focused on developing anew type of 3D printed breast implant. Together withYonsei University和LipoCoat, a Netherlands-based medical device coating company, Plcoskin will receive approximately 2B won ($1.7M) over the next three years.
Elsewhere, 3D printer manufacturer3D系统recently announced a co-development agreement withCollPlant, a regenerative medicine firm, to develop3D bioprinted soft tissue structures for breast reconstruction treatments. Implemented in conjunction with a breast implant, the soft tissue structures will be used to provide support for the lower breast and expand the implant pocket, increasing the overall coverage of the implant. Much like Healshape, the ultimate aim is to improve the success rates of breast reconstruction surgeries for cancer survivors.
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Featured image shows Healshape scientists 3D bioprinting a custom breast implant. Photo via Healshape.
