SAN DIEGO, July 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Organovo
Holdings, Inc. (NYSE MKT: ONVO), a biotechnology company
focused on delivering breakthrough three-dimensional (3D)
bioprinting technology, and Methuselah Foundation, a public charity
incentivizing innovation in regenerative medicine, today announced
that Methuselah Foundation has initiated a campaign in which it
will fund research at major research institutions using Organovo's
proprietary NovoGen Bioprinting technology.
The program will feature grants of research funding from the
non-profit Methuselah Foundation to major academic research centers
engaged in cutting edge biomedical research. Eligible
institutions will include public and private research universities
and private non-profit research institutes. Under the
program, Methuselah Foundation will divide a donation of at least
$500,000 in direct funding for
research projects across several institutions.
Methuselah Foundation Chief Executive Officer David Gobel commented, "Our donors expect us to
drive beneficially disruptive medical technology forward. Their
funding support is doing exactly that by placing Organovo's
breakthrough 3D bioprinting technology in the hands of the
brightest scientists that tissue engineering centers of excellence
have to offer."
"Organovo's technology has broad potential application in the
life sciences," said Keith Murphy,
chief executive officer of Organovo. "The opportunity to
allow those working towards significant breakthroughs in organ
bioprinting to use the NovoGen MMX bioprinter is exciting, and
we're happy to be able to establish this joint effort with
Methuselah Foundation to enable greater access to Organovo's
powerful platform."
The funding will go to cover budgeted bioprinter costs or other
aspects of project execution. Organovo will participate in
selection of the best opportunities to fund among institutions that
request such funding. The initial funding is currently
available and will begin as soon as candidate institutions are
selected. An expected outcome from the program is a greater
set of preliminary results to justify the granting of additional
government research grants in the 3D bioprinting space.
Organovo and Methuselah are confident that the program can become a
springboard for much broader productive use of bioprinting in a
number of areas of biological research.
About Organovo Holdings,
Inc.
Organovo designs and creates functional,
three-dimensional human tissues for medical research and
therapeutic applications. The Company is collaborating with
pharmaceutical and academic partners to develop human biological
disease models in three dimensions. These 3D human tissues have the
potential to accelerate the drug discovery process, enabling
treatments to be developed faster and at lower cost. In addition to
numerous scientific publications, our technology has been featured
in The Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, The Economist,
and numerous others. Organovo listed on the New York Stock
Exchange MKT on July 11, 2013.
The company is dedicated to changing the shape of medical research
and practice. Learn more at www.organovo.com.
About Methuselah Foundation
The Methuselah Foundation is a non-profit medical charity
working to create a world where 90 year olds can have the health
profile of 50 year olds, by 2028. By opportunistically leveraging
resources, enabling partnerships, and awarding prizes and grants,
we accelerate disruptive developments in biomedical engineering
that will eradicate needless suffering and extend healthy human
life. For more information please visit:
www.methuselahfoundation.org.
Safe Harbor Statement
Any statements contained in this
press release that do not describe historical facts may constitute
forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any forward-looking
statements contained herein are based on current expectations, but
are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. The factors
that could cause actual future results to differ materially from
current expectations include, but are not limited to, risks and
uncertainties relating to the Company's ability to develop, market
and sell products based on its technology; the expected benefits
and efficacy of the Company's products and technology; the
availability of substantial additional funding for the Company to
continue its operations and to conduct research and development,
clinical studies and future product commercialization; and the
Company's business, research, product development, regulatory
approval, marketing and distribution plans and strategies. These
and other factors are identified and described in more detail in
our filings with the SEC, including our transition report on
Form 10-KT filed with the SEC on May
24, 2013. You should not place undue reliance on these
forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date that
they were made. These cautionary statements should be considered
with any written or oral forward-looking statements that we may
issue in the future. Except as required by applicable law,
including the securities laws of the
United States, we do not intend to update any of the
forward-looking statements to conform these statements to reflect
actual results, later events or circumstances or to reflect the
occurrence of unanticipated events.
SOURCE Organovo Holdings, Inc.
