Congratulations to Prof. Björn Bachmann on the approval of EU Horizon project

Prof Björn Bachmann’s research group is participating in the KeratOPrinter project, which aims to develop a ground-breaking bioprinting suite that can produce a hypoimmunogenic complete artificial cornea using a bioprinting process. The international research consortium led by Professor Heli Skottman from the University of Tampere, Finland, has been awarded an 8 million euro grant for this project as part of the EU Horizon Programme. In addition to Tampere and Cologne, Maastricht University and several industrial partners are participating in the project.

Corneal damage is the third most common cause of blindness and affects around 12 million people worldwide. Although the cornea is the most commonly transplanted tissue, only one person in 70 in need receives a cornea, as there is a significant global shortage of donor tissue. Bioprinting would therefore offer an attractive alternative to circumvent the difficult issue of organ donation and produce the corneal transplant. Printing results of currently available technologies do not yet reach the complex level of tissue composition required for the optomechanical and biological functionality of the cornea.

The KeratOPrinter project therefore proposes a highly ambitious approach to developing a 4D bioprinting solution that can deliver a fully functional, biocompatible cornea that mimics the human cornea in its entirety. The new method will provide an innovative and scalable source of corneas, as the cells used for the printing process are derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC), which have both high viability and functionality. Ultimately, the KeratOPrinter project aims to provide sight-preserving therapy to millions of people by 2035.