After signing a groundbreaking deal with cosmetics company L’Oreal for the development of 3D printed skin for cosmetics testing, Organovo continues to make partners in powerful places. On April 17, the bioprinting company 
Merck, according to Wikipedia, has had more drugs approved than any other company, some of which are used for the treatment of diabetes, high cholesterol, autoimmune diseases, HIV, and HPV. Though Merck has also been responsible for failing to pay Medicaid rebates and occasional pollution, the company seems to have addressed those controversies, once they were revealed to the public and federal agencies. My fingers are crossed that this member of Big Pharma is one of the “good ones”, but, then again, the world is a scary place. And, because Merck is famous for developing the first mumps, rubella, Hepatitis B, and varicella vaccines, I’m hoping that they’ll also be the first pharmaceutical business to develop medicines using 3D printed liver cells. And, if things go really well with Organovo, maybe they’ll even be the first to 3D print entire livers.
