| dc.description.abstract | 3D bioprinting technology is an emerging technology with a potential to revolutionize the
medical field as it has a capability to biofabricate living tissue and organs using a patient’s own cells
in conjunction with different biomaterials. This disruptive technology is in an early stage and
innovators and early adopters stepwise improve the performance of the technology as it continuously
grow. The first official 3D bioprinting company, Organovo from the USA, found their niche market in
providing pharmaceutical companies with human tissue on demand that can be used for drug
screening applications.
This thesis describes a novel model used for bringing 3D bioprinting to the market, disrupting the
current market established by Organovo. CELLINK AB, which is the first company in the world to
commercialize a universal bioink for bioprinting of human tissue, has realized that successful
commercialization stems from the creation of a system of products, rather than single products. Such
system includes the commercialization of 3D Bioprinters, bioinks, consumables, and even bioprinting
services for educational use. Providing bioprinters and bioink require, however, that the demand for
such goods and services grows simultaneously. The strategic alliances with material suppliers and
partnership with cell supplier played an important role in paving the path to market for CELLINK.
The missing link, such as lack of CAD files of human tissue and organs, has been filled by creating an
open source community, namely “Bioverse”. CELLINK, a start-up company found their niche by
becoming the first 3D bioprinting company in the word that provides the whole introduction package
to 3D bioprinting for innovators and early adopters. Agile marketing, rapid product development and
strategic alliances were keys to CELLINK’s success. CELLINK is currently positioned in a rapid
expansion stage and must focus heavily on R&D, sales and marketing to maintain its market shares
and continue the growth. The following case study is an analysis using the Knowledge Intensive
Entrepreneurship, KIE conceptual model (McKelvey, Lassen, 2013). | sv |
