Lung scaffolds developed in partnership with 3D
Systems Corporation represent the most complex objects ever
printed; reveal took place at the LIFE ITSELF Conference in San
Diego
3D-printed lung scaffolds are demonstrating gas
exchange in animal models
United Therapeutics expects human clinical
trials of 3D-printed, cellularized lungs in the next five years
United Therapeutics Corporation (Nasdaq: UTHR), a public
benefit corporation, announced today that in partnership with 3D
Systems Corporation (NYSE: DDD) it has produced the world’s
most complex 3D-printed object – a human lung scaffold – and
demonstrated it at the LIFE ITSELF Conference that occurred May 31
to June 3, 2022 in San Diego. The event was organized and hosted by
Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Marc Hodosh and was sponsored by
CNN, United Therapeutics, and other prominent corporate leaders in
healthcare.
Dr. Martine Rothblatt, United Therapeutics’ Chairperson
and Chief Executive Officer and Chuck Hull, 3D Systems’
Co-Founder, Executive Vice President, and Chief Technology Officer
for Regenerative Medicine, explained to conference attendees during
a presentation entitled What’s the Future of Organ Transplantation?
that these 3D-printable lung scaffold designs consisted of a record
44 trillion voxels that lay out 4,000 kilometers of pulmonary
capillaries and 200 million alveoli. Scientists at United
Therapeutics plan to cellularize these 3D-printed scaffolds with a
patient’s own stem cells to create tolerable, transplantable human
lungs that should not require immunosuppression to prevent
rejection.
“Last week, it was exciting to show the public our 3D-printed
human lung scaffold, but we’re thrilled to share that our
3D-printed lung scaffolds are now demonstrating gas exchange in
animal models. We are regularly printing lung scaffolds as
accurately as driving across the United States and not deviating
from a course by more than the width of a human hair,” said Dr.
Rothblatt. “With the continued hard work of dedicated scientists
and engineers at United Therapeutics and 3D Systems, we hope to
have these personalized, manufactured lungs cleared for human
trials in under five years.”
Dr. Rothblatt continued, “Our goal is to create an unlimited
supply of transplantable lungs in the future. Even today, we are
using a process called ex-vivo lung
perfusion to add to the supply of transplantable lungs by
extending by several hours the period of assessment and viability
for human donor lungs, resulting in over 230 lives extended to
date.”
According to the U.S. Health Resources and Services
Administration, 2,524 patients in the U.S. received a lung
transplant in 2021 and there are 1,075 patients on the U.S. lung
transplant waiting list as of June 3, 2022. More than 150,000
Americans die from lung disease each year.
“The reveal at LIFE ITSELF represents the culmination of our
efforts with United Therapeutics that includes not only 3D-printed
lungs, but two additional organs under development, kidneys and
livers,” said Mr. Hull. “These lung designs can be printed in as
little as three weeks using our latest advanced photopolymer-based
bioprinting technology we call Print to Perfusion.”
About 3D Systems
More than 30 years ago, 3D Systems brought the innovation of 3D
printing to the manufacturing industry. Today, as the leading
Additive Manufacturing solutions partner, we bring innovation,
performance, and reliability to every interaction - empowering our
customers to create products and business models never before
possible. Thanks to our unique offering of hardware, software,
materials and services, each application-specific solution is
powered by the expertise of our application engineers who
collaborate with customers to transform how they deliver their
products and services. 3D Systems’ solutions address a variety of
advanced applications in Healthcare and Industrial Solutions
markets such as Medical and Dental, Aerospace & Defense,
Automotive and Durable Goods. More information on the company is
available at www.3dsystems.com.
United Therapeutics: Enabling Inspiration
We build on the strength of our research and development
expertise and a distinctive, entrepreneurial culture that
encourages diversity, innovation, creativity, sustainability, and,
simply, fun. Since inception, our mission has been to find a cure
for pulmonary arterial hypertension and other life-threatening
diseases. Toward this goal we have successfully gained FDA approval
for five medicines, we are always conducting new clinical trials,
and we are working to create an unlimited supply of manufactured
organs for transplantation.
We are the first publicly traded biotech or pharmaceutical
company to take the form of a public benefit corporation
(PBC). Our public benefit purpose is to provide a brighter
future for patients through (a) the development of novel
pharmaceutical therapies; and (b) technologies that expand the
availability of transplantable organs. At the same time, we seek to
provide our shareholders with superior financial performance and
our communities with earth-sensitive energy utilization.
You can learn more about what it means to be a PBC here:
unither.com/PBC.
Forward-looking Statements
Statements included in this press release that are not
historical in nature are "forward-looking statements" within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Forward-looking statements include, among others, our hope to have
3D-printed lungs cleared for human trials in under five years, our
plan to cellularize 3D-printed scaffolds with a patient’s own stem
cells to create tolerable, transplantable human lungs that should
not require immunosuppression to prevent rejection, our goal to
create an unlimited supply of transplantable lungs, our efforts to
develop 3D-printed kidneys and livers, and our goals of furthering
our public benefit purpose, providing superior financial
performance for shareholders, and providing our communities with
earth-sensitive energy utilization. These forward-looking
statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, such as
those described in our periodic reports filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission, that could cause actual results to differ
materially from anticipated results. Consequently, such
forward-looking statements are qualified by the cautionary
statements, cautionary language and risk factors set forth in our
periodic reports and documents filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission, including our most recent Annual Report on
Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and Current Reports on
Form 8-K. We claim the protection of the safe harbor contained in
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 for
forward-looking statements. We are providing this information as of
June 6, 2022, and assume no obligation to update or revise the
information contained in this press release whether as a result of
new information, future events or any other reason.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220606005379/en/
United Therapeutics Dewey Steadman at (202) 919-4097
Email: ir@unither.com
3D Systems Corporation Investors:
investor.relations@3dsystems.com Media: press@3dsystems.com
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