Stratasys announces joint development to bio-print breast implants

Stratasys has signed an agreement to develop a way to use 3-D printers to make tissue for the breast implant market.

Stratasys, which is based in Eden Prairie and Rehovot, Israel, announced Tuesday it signed a joint development and commercialization agreement with CollPlant Biotechnologies, another public company based in Rehovot.

While Stratasys specializes in making polymer-based 3-D printers, this is not the first agreement to develop a medical application.

CollPlant is developing technologies and products that use plant-based collagen as bioinks that can be used to grow human tissue. The company wants to regenerate a person's own tissue to grow the implants without eliciting immune response, and the agreement "is intended to enable large-scale commercial production."

"Through this partnership with CollPlant, we have an important opportunity to transform health care with bioprinting, by leveraging our unique and innovative P3 3-D printing technology — together with CollPlant's breakthrough rhCollagen-based bioinks — to create a product that could improve the lives of millions of patients undergoing breast augmentation or reconstruction procedures," said Stratasys CEO Yoav Zeif in a news release.

Stratasys and CollPlant's collaboration is aimed at the $2.6 billion regenerative breast implant market for both breast augmentation and reconstruction.

"We believe that our rhCollagen-based regenerative implant has the potential to overcome the challenges of existing breast procedures that use silicone implants or autologous fat tissue transfer," said Yehiel Tal, chief executive of CollPlant, in a news release.

CollPlant generated revenue in 2022 from the sale of its bioinks and last year signed collaboration agreements with Tel Aviv University and Sheba Medical Center, Israel's largest hospital. In an earnings release last week, CollPlant announced successful completion of a preclinical study of its 3-D bioprinted regenerative breast implants.

In other news, Stratasys' board of directors on Monday unanimously rejected a revised takeover bid of $19.55 a share from Nano Dimensions, as it did the initial offer.

Nano Dimension — Stratasys' largest shareholder — last week increased its offer to $19.55 a share, up from $18. On Tuesday, Nano upped its offer once again, this time to $20.05 a share.

"The Stratasys board and management team are confident that Stratasys' standalone plan will create significantly greater value for its shareholders than the Nano proposal," said the company about the second rejection.