Episode #102 | Can Bioprinting Reshape The Future of Immunology?

We explore how to move IVIG from donor scarcity to on‑demand manufacturing with tissue‑engineered bioreactors, and why that shift could lower costs, expand access, and improve consistency. We dig into polyclonal advantages, regulatory guardrails, scaling plans, and what success would mean for complex biologics beyond antibodies.

• Defining a bioreactor that recreates human tissue niches
• Why polyclonal IVIG remains essential across 100+ conditions
• Limits of donor‑dependent plasma supply and regional variability
• Complex therapeutics as a new manufacturing category
• Cost targets of 10–100x reduction and CapEx shrink
• Coffee‑cup reactors and near‑term validation milestones
• Quality metrics including pathogen panels and glycosylation
• Donor variability, blending strategies, and future immortalization
• Clinical impact of moving from rationing to earlier use
• Funding update and industry partnerships

Please listen to the disclaimer at the end of this podcast.

Show notes: https://3dheals.com/episode-102-can-bioprinting-bioreactor-reshape-the-future-of-immunology/

About our guests:

Dr. Melanie Matheu is an immunologist, inventor, and biotechnologist recognized for pioneering work in high-resolution tissue engineering and human immunology. She received her PhD in Physiology and Biophysics with a focus on Immunology from UC Irvine and completed postdoctoral training at VIB (Ghent University, Belgium) and UC San Francisco, where she specialized in 2-photon imaging and cellular immune responses. As founder of Prellis Biologics, Dr. Matheu brought forward laser-based tissue bioprinting to solve complex challenges in organ transplantation and therapeutic antibody discovery. She later co-founded Lyric Bio, where she serves as Chief Scientific Officer, advancing scalable biomanufacturing platforms and rapid human immune system modeling. Dr. Matheu has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications, holds multiple patents, and is a passionate advocate for innovation at the intersection of immunology and bioengineering.

Kevin Shannon (Kayj) holds a degree in Molecular Biology from Princeton University and a MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business. Kayj has held positions spanning the biotech ecosystem including start-ups, big pharma, venture capital, and consulting. As part of Corporate Strategy at Amgen, he worked with Amgen’s C-Suite to shape long-term strategy, built partnerships in novel therapeutic modalities, and led investments in emerging categories including cell & gene therapy, antibody engineering, single cell analysis, and quantum computing. Kayj has also consulted for multiple VC funds where he developed investment theses and performed

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