BICO/Sartorius
The life science group Sartorius, and Swedish-based BICO Group, a provider of instruments and consumables for bioprinting, bioscience and bioautomation applications, have agreed on a comprehensive technology as well as sales and marketing cooperation, as was announced on December 8, 2022.
As part of the partnership, both companies will enter into a research and development collaboration relating to 3D cell printing and associated technologies as well as digital solutions for cell line development workflows.
It was also agreed that Sartorius will become a distributor of BICO products in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. As part of the partnership, Sartorius subscribed to a directed share issue equivalent to 10% of outstanding shares in BICO prior to the transaction, for a price of 76.00 SEK per share, which totals to 487 million SEK, equivalent to around 45 million EUR.
In addition to its existing holding in BICO, upon settlement the total ownership belonging to Sartorius will amount to approximately 10.1% of the shares and 8.5% of the voting rights.
“The cooperation with BICO will enable us to jointly strengthen our activities in very dynamic fields like advanced cell models and digital workflows in drug research and development. We will further enhance the position of both companies in the fast-growing Asian markets with highly differentiating and relevant technologies. We are convinced that the strategic partnership and the investment in BICO will create value for both parties,” said Gerry Mackay, member of the Executive Board and Head of the Lab Products and Services Division of Sartorius.
Erik Gatenholm, CEO and co-founder of BICO, said: “The strategic collaboration with Sartorius is expected to significantly expand our presence and accelerate growth in Asia-Pacific, where BICO today has considerable expansion potential. BICO will get access to value adding, complementary technologies and products, which will enhance our current customer offering within bioprinting and lab automation. We consider the Sartorius ownership in BICO as a verification of the BICO growth strategy.”
NICO provides life science solutions and laboratory automation that the company says enables more efficient development of new treatments, with less need for animal testing.
The company uses bioconvergence as its operating system, which combines advanced technologies with biology to streamline and automate workflows within the pharmaceutical and biopharma industries.
With 32,000 instruments installed in over 65 countries, BICO products are found in more than 3,500 laboratories. The BICO Group operates through three business areas, bioprinting, biosciences, and bioautomation. Through these industries, the company says that it is striving towards the long-term ambition of enabling reduction of the world’s organ shortage and speeding up drug development to create the future of life-saving treatments.
Dr. Jia Min Lee and Dr. Wai Yee Yeong from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore wrote for TCT in May 2022, explaining 3D bioprinting and what could potentially be achieved in the future with the technology.
Researchers at Pennsylvania State University developed a granular hydrogel bioink that could expand possibilities for tissue bioprinting last summer, with the lead author of the study recognised as Advanced Materials' ‘Rising Star’ for the work.
