St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne

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Pictured: Prof Peter Choong of St Vincent's Melbourne and Federal Minister for Health Hon. Greg Hunt MP in April 2018 at the launch of BioMedTech Horizons program in Melbourne.


Project title: AxceldaPen

The AxceldaPen (formerly BioPen) is set to provide the first in-situ bioprinting treatment for cartilage injuries, developed at the St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne biofabrication facility, BioFab3D@ACMD. 

Cartilage injuries occur in two thirds of all joint trauma, with many leading to osteoarthritis that cannot be adequately prevented or treated using current complex surgery interventions. The BioPen project is working to accurately repair the joint injury, by rapidly isolating stem cells from a patient, loading these into a gel scaffold then printing new cartilage using a hand held device directly into the defect. 

The combination of stem cell technology, engineering and surgical innovation promises to simplify surgery through a one-off surgical procedure with the capacity to bank cells for future use if repeat surgery is required. The BioMedTechHorizons funding will enable this project to advance a prototype device, methodologies and bio-ink formulations towards a commercialisable therapy.


BMTH Round: One

State: Victoria

Visit St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne for more details

Twitter: @StVincentsMelb & @BioFab3D  |  LinkedIn: St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne

Listen to our podcast to hear St Vincent's Centre Manager talk about the AxceldaPen project and more.

Consortium LeadSt Vincent's Hospital Melbourne
Consortium PartnersThe University of Melbourne, University of Wollongong & Swinburne University of Technology
FundingMTPConnect grant: $956,943
Industry contribution: $748,529

DurationJuly 2018 - December 2020
OutcomesTechnical progress was significant during the project with a final clinical trial demonstrating that the approach represents a superior cartilage repair strategy compared with the current microfracture treatment standard.
Contact Professor Peter Choong, Head of Department of Surgery, St. Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne