The snapshot
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3DBioFibR Inc. formed three and a half years ago, spun out of research conducted in 麻豆传媒鈥檚 School of Biomedical Engineering with support from Dal Innovates. The company鈥檚 technology, a bold new approach to tissue engineering, is making it a go-to in the burgeoning medical research sector.
The idea
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鈥檚 technology has its roots in the work of Dr. John Frampton, 麻豆传媒鈥檚 Canada Research Chair in Cellular, Biomaterial and Matrix Interaction. Dr. Frampton invented a technique for manufacturing protein fibres used as scaffolding to build cellular structures. Like the rebar in a concrete building, the fibers provide an underlying framework that cells latch onto to artificially manufacture structures for use in the human body.
His initial protein fibers were encouraging but they didn鈥檛 contain enough collagen to be clinically successful. Collagen is the most abundant protein in the human body. Dr. Frampton knew that incorporating it in his fibers would allow him to vastly improve how cells bond to them.
Collagen fiber being made. (Photo provided)
He recruited fellow Dal researcher Dr. Laurent Kreplak and graduate student Gurkaran Chowdhry to pursue the idea. Together the team built on Dr. Frampton鈥檚 fiber creation technique to finetune it and were incredibly successful 鈥� upping the collagen content from two per cent to 100. Moreover, they developed the first fully automated manufacturing system to produce collagen fibers, laying the groundwork for translation to a commercial system.
The innovation meant their new material could become extremely useful in supporting the creation of biomedical structures such as nerves and the c-shaped pieces of cartilage that cushion joints, among many other potential applications.
A close-up look at a scaffold of collagen fibers. (Provided photo)
鈥淭he goal is for it to act like a structural support for living things to attach to and grow on,鈥� Chowdhry explains. 鈥淚t was something that had potential. The next challenge became, can we do it at scale to actually service an industry?鈥�
In other words, how would they turn this novel medical technology into a company?
The challenge
For Chowdhry, that broad question was answered in part with the help of two Dal Innovates programs, now known as and .
鈥淢y undergrad was in physics, my master's was in physics, so business strategy is not something I had a lot of exposure to. The last business course I took was Grade 11 accounting. So, it was nice to wrap my head around those ideas,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t was really helpful to learn how to conduct a customer discovery interview and really understand what your customer's needs are,鈥� he says.
Chowdhry now serves as the company鈥檚 Director of Business Development. Dr. Frampton is Chief Scientific Officer, while Dr. Kreplak remains heavily engaged as a technical advisor. The team took on the name 3DBioFibR, and experienced biotech entrepreneur Kevin Sullivan as CEO.
Day-to-day, Chowdhry focuses on commercial and product strategy, including forecasting cash flow, sales, and the cost of goods. In doing so he relies on many of the principles he first learned in Lab2Market Launch.
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He says 3D BioFibR also benefited from its participation in , an objectives-based program for massively scalable, science- and technology-based companies hosted at 麻豆传媒. Chowdhry and the team learned how to pitch the company, secured an investor, and received advice on everything from strategy to IP to product development and marketing.
鈥淚t provided a way to pressure test things in a safe environment,鈥� he explains. 鈥淚t's a room full of people who've been there, done that. You consistently get your assumptions tested and get feedback from people who have a pedigree.鈥�
The solution
As a result of that advice, 3DBioFibR has positioned itself as a biomaterial manufacturing company that can supply many different biomedical customers.
Chowdhry uses the examples of Gore-Tex and Intel to explain his company鈥檚 strategy. Gore-Tex does not make clothing, but its material is used by many other companies to produce everything from gloves to boots. Intel doesn鈥檛 make computers but its chips power countless PCs. Likewise, 3DBioFibR鈥檚 collagen fibres can potentially be used by an array of biotech manufacturers.
In June 2023, in a significant step forward, the company signed a development deal with ReNerve, an Australian biotech outfit. 3DBioFibR has developed a prototype for ReNerve that will hopefully 鈥� pending tests 鈥� be used to help drive nerve regeneration. 3DBioFibR鈥檚 collagen fibres would act as a 鈥渃ell migration highway鈥� in bridging severed nerves.
鈥淲ith our technology, we can make these collagen fibres at scale, with over 3,600 times the throughput of any competing technologies,鈥� Chowdhry notes. 鈥淲e can do 1,000 metres a second. And we can match the structure of native collagen so that cells can recognize and attach to the material in the way that they do in the body. The tissue engineering industry is all about creating these tissue constructs that can be eventually implanted into a human being.鈥�
The impact
According to Chowdhry, the tissue engineering industry is a $26-billion market, with companies and researchers pursuing applications spanning hair follicle regeneration, orthopedics, meniscus repair, and corneal, liver, and heart tissues, and even artificial ears.
3DBioFibR鈥檚 product ready for market. (Provided photo)
鈥淓ssentially the industry is trying to create implantable lab-grown tissue to put into a human for every potential condition,鈥� he explains. 鈥淎nything in your body you can think of, there's at least one group working on creating it with implantable tissue.鈥�
According to Chowdhry, 3DBioFibR鈥檚 technology is 鈥渁gnostic鈥� in terms of the tissue types it can pair with; it could potentially be used throughout the industry.
3DBioFibR now has 12 employees and manufactures its collagen fibre at its facility in on 麻豆传媒 campus. The company has raised three rounds of funding totalling $3.7 million and plans to pursue a Series A round in 2024.
鈥淲e think our biomaterial will enable many new technologies to get to the next stage. So, the goal is to stay hyper-focused on improving production, quality, and efficiency, and by doing so, make the biggest impact across tissue engineering,鈥� Chowdhry concludes. 鈥淥ur fibres will hopefully help these technologies get closer to the clinic 鈥� that's really the goal of the business.鈥�