Halifax-based 3D BioFibR has signed a collaboration deal with Kelowna, British Columbia-based OkaSciences.

Founded in 2019, OkaSciences sells materials for bioprinting — the process of 3D printing tissue, which has applications in healthcare and pharmaceutical research. OkaSciences will sell its bioprinting ink bundled with 3D BioFibR’s collagen-derived μCollaFibR additive, pronounced “micro-colla-fibre.”

The two products will be delivered to customers separately, to then be combined before use. 3D BioFibR CEO Kevin Sullivan said in an email that his company will manufacture μCollaFibR at its Halifax plant before shipping it to OkaSciences to be sold as a package.

“OkaSciences is a BioInk company that sells inks to the 3D Bioprinting industry,” wrote Sullivan. “Our µCollaFibR … product is an additive that improves the performance of BioInks for the 3D Bioprinting industry. Oka saw value in bundling the products so as to offer a fulsome solution for customers to solve those customers needs.

“This is a great opportunity to work with another Canadian company that is growing quickly in this large global market.”

3D BioFibR was founded in 2020 by Sullivan and Chief Scientific Officer John Frampton, a biomedical engineering professor from Dalhousie University. By October of the same year, the company had raised $550,000, followed by another $700,000 of equity funding in 2021.

In June of this year the company launched two products: μCollaFibR and a related offering, CollaFibR, which uses similar underlying technology but takes the form of a three-dimensional scaffolding for cell cultures. And in July, Sullivan’s 12-person team announced they had closed an equity and debt funding round worth a little over $3.52 million.

Sullivan said at the time the money will go towards automating and scaling up the company’s manufacturing processes and opening a new facility. The highly specialized nature of 3D BioFibR’s products, along with the need to protect trade secrets, means the company plans to keep its manufacturing in-house indefinitely, Sullivan has said previously.