Nordic Life Science 1
- T E X T b y C H R IS T A C HIB A N A N 2015, Ma
rtin Bonde Jensen and Casper Slots were University of Southern Denmark engineering students with a smart research project. Today, they are cofounders and executives of Particle3D, moving the technology from their project to market. The company is developing medical implants that are 3D-printed from biomaterials similar to natural bone. ”When Martin and I decided to write a bachelor’s thesis together,” Slots says, ”we thought 3D printing was exciting and we wanted to work on a real-life problem.” They developed their project with Professor Morten Ø. Andersen and Odense University Hospital surgeon Torben Thygesen, also Particle3D cofounders. BUILDING A SOLID ORGANIZATION Already in 2015, prompted by the university, the team filed its first patent. Within a few years, Slots and Jensen earned master’s degrees, won the VentureCup pitch competition, receiving 100 000 DKK toward their startup, and got intense entrepreneurial training in the Accelerace incubator program. Particle3D is now funded by 5 million DKK from business angels and the early stage investor PreSeed Ventures. Jensen, 28 years old in 2018, was on the Forbes 30 under 30 list for Europe Science and Healthcare. In March 2019, experienced executive Thea Wulff Olesen joined Particle3D as CEO. The company is still in ”very early days,” she says, ”but we’re reviewing our strategy and looking at the best paths for us.” Her primary goal right now is building a solid organization based on the Particle3D technology. TAILORED, BONELIKE IMPLANTS Currently, implants for reconstructive surgery are made of bone taken from the patient that must then grow back or from foreign materials such as metal. Particle3D prints implants using a calcium phosphate-fatty acid bioink with a composition similar to bone. Experiments with stem cells show the implants support activities that should lead to their eventual integration into a patient’s body through normal, physiological bone remodeling. Slots explains that getting to the right technology took biological understanding and engineering instincts. The bone-like bioink they formulated is dense, like toothpaste, and has to be kept warm because it solidifies quickly. That required some technological hacking. ”We started with a cheap printer, like hobbyists use,” Slots says, ”and stationed a blow dryer in front to keep it at the right temperature.” 98