The Big Question

What if we could bioprint any organ on demand?

The Problem 

Patients in need of organ transplants face chronic shortages, long wait lists, and the lifelong risk of transplant rejection. A variety of factors impact organ transplant shortages, including a recipient’s geographic location, the need for blood type matches as well as expensive immunosuppressive drugs, and low donation rates. Someone can wait months to years for a transplant organ, and thousands of patients in the U.S. die annually while awaiting a match.

The Current State 

Current matching criteria is done by a national computer list that considers medical urgency, tissue match and blood type, organ size, immune status, and geographic distance. Because of factors like geographic distance and the need for certain, blood type matches, people in rural areas or those from Black, Asian, and minority ethnic groups are less likely to receive an organ. When a compatible organ does become available, the recipient faces a lifetime of immunosuppressive drugs to combat rejection. Transplanted organs last only a decade or two, and complications are common.

The Challenge 

The Personalized Regenerative Immunocompetent Nanotechnology Tissue (PRINT) program intends to use state-of-the-art bioprinting technology and a regenerative medicine approach to 3D print  personalized, on demand organs that do not require immunosuppressive drugs. The goal is to use patient cells or a biobank to quickly produce immune- and blood type-matched replacement organs, such as kidneys, hearts, and livers. If successful, PRINT technology would decrease donor list wait times, reduce the need and cost for immunosuppressive drugs, and make organs and tissues more widely available for patients across the country.

The Solution

PRINT focuses on three technical areas with the end goal of restoring normal tissue function. The first technical area aims to generate the necessary cell types for organ bioprinting, via blood draw, biopsy, or biobank generation. The second technical area involves large scale manufacturing of cell types. The third technical area focuses on organ biofabrication and testing for safety and efficacy. Performers are encouraged to explore multiple methods for achieving the goals of each technical area.

Why ARPA-H?

With PRINT, ARPA-H aims to bring together the right technologies and expertise to create a new health future where custom printed organs are a reality. ARPA-H can de-risk the bioprinting and complex cell manufacturing tools necessary to make patient-matched tissues and organs more widely available.