Organization

BICO GROUP AB

Swedish bioprinting SME providing 3D bioprinters and bioinks for tissue engineering, tumour modelling, and regenerative medicine research.

Technology SMEhealthSESME

H2020 projects

As coordinator

Total EC funding

€4.3M

Unique partners

What they do

Their core work

BICO Group (formerly CELLINK) is a Swedish bioconvergence company specializing in 3D bioprinting technologies for life science applications. They develop bioprinters and bioinks used to fabricate tissue models for drug development, disease research, and regenerative medicine. Across their H2020 portfolio, they provide bioprinting hardware and expertise to consortia working on tumour models, cardiac tissue, orthopedic scaffolds, and placental barrier models. Their commercial bioprinting platforms serve as enabling infrastructure for academic and pharmaceutical research partners.

Core expertise

What they specialise in

3D bioprinting for tissue engineeringprimary

5 projects

Core technology across TUMOURPRINT, GIOTTO, TRiAnkle, LIFESAVER, and SilkFUSION — all rely on bioprinting to fabricate biological constructs.

Tumour model fabrication for drug screeningprimary

1 project

Coordinated TUMOURPRINT (€2.45M), their flagship project developing high-throughput bioprinted tumour models for oncology drug development.

Musculoskeletal and orthopedic tissue regenerationsecondary

2 projects

GIOTTO addresses osteoporotic fractures with nanobiomaterials and 3D printing; TRiAnkle develops personalized scaffolds for ankle joint tissue regeneration.

Cardiac tissue and smart biomaterialsemerging

1 project

REPAIR project explores polymeric artificial muscles and smart materials for restoring cardiac mechanical function.

In vitro disease and safety modellingsecondary

2 projects

CENSUS develops cell-based neurodegeneration models; LIFESAVER builds bioprinted placental models for drug safety testing during pregnancy.

Evolution & trajectory

How they've shifted over time

Early focus

Cell-based disease models

Recent focus

Applied tissue regeneration bioprinting

BICO's early H2020 involvement (2016–2018) centred on foundational cell biology — neurodegeneration screening models (CENSUS) and stem cell platforms on silk-fibroin scaffolds (SilkFUSION). From 2019 onward, their focus shifted decisively toward applied bioprinting for specific clinical targets: orthopedic implants with smart nanomaterials (GIOTTO), cardiac artificial muscle tissue (REPAIR), personalized ankle joint scaffolds (TRiAnkle), and placental drug safety models (LIFESAVER). This evolution reflects a company that moved from supplying bioprinting as a general-purpose tool to embedding it within targeted therapeutic applications.

BICO is moving toward personalized, organ-specific bioprinted constructs for both regenerative medicine and regulatory safety testing — expect continued growth in orthopedic and cardiovascular tissue applications.

Collaboration profile

How they like to work

Role: specialist_contributorReach: European16 countries collaborated

BICO predominantly joins consortia as a specialist partner (6 of 7 projects), providing bioprinting technology and expertise to research-led teams. They coordinated only TUMOURPRINT, their largest project, suggesting they lead when the application directly matches their core product line. With 62 unique partners across 16 countries, they are a widely connected technology provider — a go-to bioprinting partner rather than a consortium architect.

BICO has collaborated with 62 unique partners across 16 countries, indicating a broad European network built through their role as a bioprinting technology supplier. Their partnerships span universities, hospitals, and research institutes working in tissue engineering and biomaterials.

Why partner with them

What sets them apart

BICO is one of very few commercial bioprinting companies participating extensively in EU research consortia, bridging the gap between academic tissue engineering research and industrial-grade bioprinting hardware. Unlike university labs that develop one-off bioprinting protocols, BICO brings standardised, commercially available platforms that make project results reproducible and scalable. For consortium builders, partnering with BICO means access to production-ready bioprinting infrastructure alongside deep application knowledge in oncology, orthopedics, and cardiovascular tissue.

Notable projects

Highlights from their portfolio

TUMOURPRINT
BICO's only coordinated project and largest funding (€2.45M) — a direct commercial play in high-throughput bioprinted tumour models for pharma drug development.
TRiAnkle
Represents BICO's push into personalized regenerative medicine, combining 3D bioprinting with collagen/gelatine scaffolds for complex weight-bearing joint repair.
LIFESAVER
Unusual application of bioprinting to regulatory science — modelling the placental barrier for drug safety during pregnancy, opening a new market beyond tissue regeneration.

Cross-sector capabilities

Manufacturing — additive manufacturing and advanced materials processingEnvironment — in vitro alternatives to animal testing for chemicals safetyDigital — IoT-connected biofabrication platformsFood — potential for cultured tissue and cell-based food applications

Analysis note: BICO Group AB was formerly known as CELLINK, a well-known bioprinting company. The project data strongly supports the bioprinting profile. One project (LIFESAVER) shows no EC funding amount, suggesting a third-party or in-kind contribution role. Keyword data for early projects is sparse (only one keyword entry '212353' which appears to be a data artifact), so the early-period characterization relies primarily on project titles and descriptions.