IISc and Henry Royce Institute announce strategic bioprinting partnership

The Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru and the Henry Royce Institute at The University of Manchester, UK have signed a Letter of intent (LoI) for a major new agreement to collaborate on cutting-edge research in 3D bioprinting, biofabrication, and materials science.

The partnership is a step forward in uniting UK and Indian scientific strengths under the UK-India Technology Security Initiative to accelerate innovation in healthcare, precision medicine and sustainable bio-manufacturing.

The collaboration brings together world-leading expertise in bioprinting, biomaterials, engineering biology and advanced manufacturing. Over the coming years, IISc and Royce will work jointly to develop new biomaterials, organotypic models, medical implants and translational technologies that support next-generation healthcare solutions. Clinical adoption and commercialisation of bioprinting technologies sits at the heart of the agreement.

Joint R&D projects, training programmes and talent development initiatives will be launched with support from co-funding mechanisms in the UK and India. These activities aim to strengthen capacity building and accelerate research translation across both countries.

A key initiative emerging from the partnership is the UK–India Bioprinting and Engineering Biology Summit (BioSculpt 2025), which was held at IISc Bengaluru from 26–28 November 2025 under the UK-India Technology Security Initiative. 

UK Science Minister Lord Vallance said, “Bioprinting is an incredibly exciting field. Being able to build biological systems, and eventually even entire organs, in the lab won’t just help make medical research easier. It could form an important part of the UK Government’s work, rolling out alternatives to animal testing and ultimately ending it wherever possible."