Regenerative medicine specialist CollPlant has launched BioFlex, a ready-to-print bioprinting kit built on rh-collagen, aimed at researchers working on tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.
The kit is designed for Digital Light Processing (DLP) bioprinting and targets two applications: tissue model biofabrication for drug discovery, and the development of engineered tissues and transplantable organs. It comes with Collink.3D 50, a biodegradable polymer component, and proprietary photoactive agents optimised for high-resolution DLP printing.
“By integrating our standardized recombinant human collagen with biodegradable polymers and photoactive components – supported by expert-developed formulation and printing guidelines – we enable seamless preparation and highly reproducible, high-resolution printing outcomes,” said Yehiel Tal, CEO of CollPlant.
Bioprinted perfusable vascular channels using BioFlex Bioink. Photo via CollPlant.
Addressing Bioink Formulation Complexity
BioFlex is designed to reduce the component screening and simplify formulation development work that routinely slows projects down, enabling labs a faster route to bioinks with adjustable mechanical properties.
The specialist says users following the kit’s formulation and printing guidelines can fabricate complex biological structures with control over enhanced tensile strength, elasticity, reduced brittleness, and improved structural integrity.
CollPlant says constructs produced with BioFlex demonstrate enhanced mechanical performance and consistency. The company also describes the kit as an animal-free alternative to conventional systems, saying the scaffolds it produces are designed to closely replicate the physical characteristics of native human tissues and organs.
BioFlex is aimed at academic laboratories and industrial R&D teams working across bioprinting, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine.
Formulation complexity has long been one of the more stubborn practical barriers in bioprinting research. Building a reliable bioink system typically requires extensive screening of individual components, and small variations in material properties can compromise the reproducibility of printed structures.
Ready-to-use kits that standardise that process are relatively uncommon, particularly ones built on rh-collagen rather than animal-derived sources, which can introduce variability in bioprinting applications.
Manufacturing on Demand
Reducing Preparation Steps in DLP Bioprinting
Simplifying bioink preparation has become a recurring design priority across DLP bioprinting, as researchers and manufacturers alike contend with the time and resource costs of formulation development. Several recent developments reflect that pressure.
For instance, CARIMATEC’s ZENESIS system, introduced at Formnext 2025, points to the same formulation and reproducibility constraints. Its freeze-dried EZ-preBioink capsule is designed to reduce instability associated with liquid formulations, offering researchers a prepared mix that only requires combining with culture medium before printing.
Bioprinted organoid structures created with the ZENESIS system. Photo via CARIMATEC.
The South Korean manufacturer built the DLP-based system around that principle, targeting pharmaceutical companies, university hospitals, and cosmetic laboratories.
Separately, researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology developed a light-driven DLP technique that uses a one-pot formulation to reduce the processing steps involved in creating organs-on-a-chip.
The approach combines a sacrificial resin with the material forming the final microchannel system in a single formulation, which the team says accelerates prototyping and testing of tissue-chip designs. The work underlines how formulation complexity remains an active area of problem-solving across DLP bioprinting research.
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Author: Ada Shaikhnag
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