2013

RNCOS

Possibilities for 3D Printing in the Life Sciences

Market

Possibilities for 3D Printing in the Life Sciences Market

Rapid advances in technology and breakthrough

results in various R&D experiments suggest new

applications for 3D printing in the life sciences and

medical world.

Recent 3D Bio-printing Breakthroughs

• Scientists from the Herlot-Watt

University, Edinburg successfully 3D-

printed embryonic stem cells

• Artificial skull 3D printed by Scientists at

Oxford Performance Materials replaced

75% of the skull of an American patient

• Scientists at LayerWise created an

implantable lower jaw for a patient in

Netherlands

• A cancer patient who had his left face

missing due to a surgery to remove

tumor, was implanted with a 3D printed

prosthetic face

• Researchers at Cornell University

created a living human ear using a 3D

printer

• Scientists at Oxford University developed

a 3D printer that can create living

tissues.

Introduction

Being in oblivion for almost three decades, 3D printing has

recently garnered much limelight. So much so that Wall Street

analysts are promoting the 3D printing industry as the next big

thing after the internet revolution. With high stakes being placed

on market players, we decided to look into the applications of 3D

printing in life sciences and whether or not it has the potential to

deliver on the high expectations.

The Technology

3D printing is an additive manufacturing process, wherein the

product is manufactured by adding the raw material layer by

layer, following a successive bottom-up approach. The process

begins by first designing a digital CAD file for the desired product.

This CAD file is used to instruct the 3D printer. Further, raw

materials for the final product are fed into the appropriate portal.

Once instructions are given, it takes only a few minutes for the 3D

printer to manufacture the final product.

Market Dynamics

With varied applications in aeronautical engineering, prototype

designing and immense potential for growth in the medical

industry, the market for 3D printing is expected to grow at CAGR

of around 22% between 2012-2017 to reach a value of US$ 3.4

Billion by the end of forecast period. Advances in technology are

expected to decrease the 3D printer’s size, while enhancing its

ability to manufacture complex designs. This will further fuel its

growth by adding onto its applications and increasing its usability.

Possibilities in Life Sciences

Dentistry: 3D printing is revolutionizing the way

artificial dentures are made. Gone are the days

when patients had to rely on uncomfortable,

foul-tasting, and less accurate oral impressions

using trays and molding materials. Now, the

patient has to just sit and let the dentist take a

3D scan of the teeth. The digital data of the

scan is converted into a CAD file and uploaded

into a computer. This file can then be used to

get the denture printed from an in-house

printer or a local firm with a 3D printer.

Although, a lot of small firms are mushrooming

up that provide these services for a nominal

fee, with decreasing cost of a 3D printer and its

rising affordability, it is expected that the trend

of having an in-house 3D printer will soon catch

up amongst medium scale dentists in the

developed regions.

Organ Modeling: The technology has immense

scope in the field of manufacturing prosthetic

limbs and other body organs. Currently, its use

ranges from manufacturing organ models for

surgeons to evaluate medical procedures to

manufacturing of human skulls and jaws for

transplantation procedures. 3D printing has also

brought about a sea change in how prosthetic

limbs are made and customized. Manufactures

are using the technology to produce customized

prosthetic limb coverings, or fairings, that

perfectly mirror the sculptural symmetry and

function of the wearer's remaining limb.

The major advantage of producing prosthetic

limbs and transplantable jaw, skull and other

organs where living tissues are not required is

that it reduces the surgery time. Chief reason

behind the reduction in surgery time is the

personalized manufacturing of the implant. The

implant fits perfectly into the patient’s body,

reducing hospital stay and the overall medical

costs. In its nascent stages, the rising popularity

of prosthetic limbs designed using 3D printing is

all set to boost the growth of the 3D printers

market.

Drug R&D: Currently, millions of dollars and

substantial time is wasted if a drug candidate

that passed efficacy studies in animal models is

found toxic in clinical trials. To reduce this

wastage, 3D printers can offer a very viable

solution. Imagine a microchip with uniformly

spaced human target tissues, wherein the

metabolism and toxicity of the drug can be

studied.

In a recent development, a 3D printer was used

to evenly print uniform-size droplets of stem

cells gently enough to keep the cells alive and

maintain their ability to develop into different

cell types. These stem cells can be induced to

transform into the desired differentiated cells

and observed upon for the application of drug.

A lot of research is required before such

technique can be routinely used by the pharma

firms, still, recent researches and collaborations

between players in the 3D printing market and

big pharma are an indication of the growth of

this application in the field.

• 3D printed implantable dentures

and prosthetics are finding

increased acceptability and rise in

demand as they can be produced in

a significantly shorter time and

budget

• 3D printing provides the ability to

built a scaffold with high integrity

and carefully planned porosity,

giving immense advantage for use

in tissue engineering

Tissue Engineering: This by far, remains the

most lucrative and underdeveloped segment of

all. Lucrative because it has the potential to fill

in the wide gap in demand and supply of

organs; underdeveloped because of the

sensitive nature of the research involved. The

technology provides with an opportunity to

produce things which can’t be produced

otherwise. For instance, one can print porous

titanium structures which allow bone in-growth

and allow a better fixation of the implant, giving

it a longer lifetime.

The technology could involve the creation of

replacement tissues and organs that are printed

layer-by-layer into a three-dimensional

structure. Parts could be made from the organ

recipient's own genetic matter, and precisely

match the tissue or organ they replace. Since

these printed organs or tissue will be made

from the patient's own cells rather than those

of a donated heart or liver, there'll little risk of

an immune response, which lessens the need

for debilitating immunosuppressive drugs.

Breakthroughs in the field are increasing in

frequency. Market players are forming

collaborations with leading research centers

and universities to work on a viable solution.

Recent advances in the field involve

manufacturing of simple tissues like skin, heart

muscle patches, and blood vessels. Moreover,

researchers have successfully produced

miniature functional kidneys using 3D printing

and are now working on developing more

sophisticated prototypes. Researchers are also

focusing on producing ear, muscle, and

cartilage-bone using 3D printing.

The field is at the research level phase. Once

enough data is accumulated, the research is

bound to reach clinical trial stages. The current

scenario suggest that the initiation of such

clinical trials could begin in the next 5-6 years

and in the next 15-20 years, the technology to

manufacture organs using 3D printing and

recipient’s cells can be expected to become a

common practice reducing the organ demand

supply gap and saving precious lives.

Conclusion

Currently, the medical and life sciences sector

accounts for only a marginal share of about 15%

in the total 3D printing industry. Of this, the

majority of revenue is being generated through

the manufacturing of dentures and prosthetic

limbs. However, immense potential lies in the

applications that the technology can have in

transforming pharmaceutical R&D and

manufacturing complete organs. Players in the

industry thus need to focus on two aspects.

First, they should try to provide viable solutions

and cater to the ever increasing demand from

consumers for direct digital manufacturing.

Second, while generating revenue and

Key Take-aways

• Trend of keeping in-house 3D printers

s augment in US dental clinics

• Players will find increased demand

from implantable prosthetics market

• Tissue scaffolds will be increasingly

manufactured using 3D printers

which will boost the regenerative

medicine and surgery market

• Research impetus will be on efforts of

manufacturing whole organs using 3D

printing technology

maintaining profits, a considerable amount of

revenue should be utilized to invest in R&D to

increase the usability of the technology in the

medical field. Collaborations with research

institutes with an eye on federal funds can be a

positive move in the direction.

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