Background

Biogelx was formed as a spin-out company at the University of Strathclyde in 2013. Biogelx self-assembling synthetic peptide products have rapidly gained a global reputation in 3D cell culture. The materials’ unique ability to emulate specific physical properties of a wide range of different tissue types offers new opportunities for the development of tailored 3D models for biomedical and pharmaceutical applications.

Building on the success of Biogelx core technology, the company designed and developed a novel bioink product family, which has opened the opportunity for the development of advanced three-dimensional tissue models. These hydrogel-based inks are biocompatible and easily printable, exhibiting excellent shear-thinning properties, which reduce the stress experienced by cells when subjected to the printing process. However, the key differentiator of these bioinks is the unique mix of their properties, which ensure versatility and consistency for bioprinting applications.

Biogelx’s CEO joined Biogelx following over 25 years in the contract testing business working for Quintiles, Aptuit and Eurofins.

The company recently announced the formation of a scientific advisory board with members from the ASRC Sensor CAT, City University of New York, University of Glasgow and BioAscent to guide the company regarding further R&D strategy.

Technology Overview

Competitive alternatives to animal-derived products

Biogelx™ hydrogel technology is based on simple, short, self-assembling peptides. These products combine a structural, fiber-forming peptide with a functional peptide which introduces biochemical functionality to the surface of the fibers. The result is a fibrous network with a similar nanoscale matrix structure to that of native extracellular matrix (ECM) in human tissue. The beauty of this simple peptide technology is that both the mechanical and biochemical properties of the hydrogels can be independently adjusted to provide an optimal environment for the culture of a variety of cell types.

Printability plus cell viability

Biogelx™-INK materials utilize the company’s proprietary self-assembling peptide hydrogel technology but have been developed with printability first in mind. Like Biogelx™synthetic hydrogel products, the bioinks form a nanofibrous network, mimicking the extracellular matrix which can support cell growth, signaling, and proliferation. Additionally, they have been developed to ensure the rheological properties are optimal for bioprinting by extrusion-based printing methods. This ensures Biogelx™-INKs can provide both cell viability and printability.

Benefits

Reproducible – The products are produced synthetically in ISO 9001:2015 certified laboratories. This ensures batch-to-batch reproducibility.
Easy-to-handle – Gelation is triggered by the addition of cell culture media. There is no requirement for extreme temperature, pH adjustment, UV curing, or addition of reactive crosslinking reagents, which can be detrimental to the health of cells.
Chemically tunable – The technology offers opportunity to tailor the biomimetic functionality to specific cell types. Today, these functionalized products incorporate biomimetic peptide sequences of key ECM proteins such as fibronectin, laminin, and collagen to encourage cell-matrix interactions. The ability to incorporate such functionality allows Biogelx™hydrogels to provide synthetic yet biologically-relevant alternatives to animal-derived 3D matrices such as Matrigel® and collagen.
Mechanically tunable – The hydrogel scaffolds can generate a broad range of matrix stiffness; from 0.5 kPa up to100 kPa, thereby providing an optimal environment for the culture of a variety of cell and tissue types.
- With these materials you can develop more physiologically relevant disease models. It is known that tissues stiffen during ageing and the pathological progression of diseases like cancer or fibrosis. Being able to mimic these stiffness changes with a single material allows researchers to model disease progression more effectively.
- You can control stem cell behaviour and differentiation. With the ability to control matrix stiffness, these hydrogels can aid stem cell migration, differentiation, survival, and integration.
Printable – Based on the core hydrogel technology, the researchers designed a novel bioink product range (Biogelx™-INK) which opens the opportunity for the development of advanced three-dimensional tissue models.

Applications

Biogelx’s bioink materials can be tailored to specific applications, meaning they have huge potential in a range of fields including cellular applications, toxicology, drug screening, and regenerative medicine.

Synthetic Hydrogels for 3D in-vitro Models

IP Status

Seeking