Auxilium Biotechnologies Achieves Historic Space Bioprinting Milestone, Successfully Bioprinting Kidney and Liver Tissues in Orbit for the First Time

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 9, 2026--

Auxilium Biotechnologies today announced a major milestone in space biomanufacturing with the successful bioprinting of kidney and liver tissues aboard the International Space Station (ISS), marking the first time either tissue type has been manufactured in space. Auxilium’s bioprinted biological tissues and nerve repair implants returned to earth on Mission AXLM-3 that flew on NASA’s SpaceX CRS-34 and splashed down off the California coast on June 17th, 2026, at 5:11am Pacific.

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During the mission, Auxilium’s AMP-1 orbital bioprinter successfully manufactured kidney, liver, and cartilage tissues while also producing 28 nerve repair implants. The achievement represents the first demonstration of kidney tissue manufacturing in space, the first demonstration of liver tissue manufacturing in space, and the first mission to manufacture three distinct tissue types during a single spaceflight. The production of multiple tissue types and clinically relevant nerve repair implants represents the first demonstration of a scalable, multi-product biomanufacturing platform in space.

Equally important, the mission demonstrated the ability of a single autonomous manufacturing platform to produce both living tissues and implantable medical products during the same flight. The simultaneous production of multiple tissue types alongside 28 nerve repair implants highlights not only the versatility of the platform, but also its scalability and higher-throughput manufacturing in space.

The kidney and liver tissues were manufactured in support of research conducted by the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) using the institute’s cells and tissue designs. Auxilium provided the orbital manufacturing platform that enabled tissue fabrication in microgravity.

“This mission represents a significant milestone for both Auxilium and the future of space biomanufacturing,” said Jacob Koffler, PhD, MBA, CEO of Auxilium. “For the first time, we successfully bioprinted kidney and liver tissues in space, demonstrating that complex biological products can be manufactured in orbit. We also produced cartilage tissue and 28 nerve repair implants during the same mission using the same manufacturing platform. The ability to manufacture multiple tissue types alongside clinically relevant medical products highlights both the versatility and scalability of our technology. These results build on our previous demonstration of large-scale medical device manufacturing in space and represent another step toward establishing practical production capabilities for biomedical products beyond Earth.”

Dr. Anthony Atala, MD, Professor and Director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) commented, "Successfully bioprinting living liver and kidney tissue aboard the International Space Station marks an important step forward for regenerative medicine. The uniform cell distribution achieved aboard the space station points to real possibilities for manufacturing medical devices and tissues in space.”

Demonstrating a Versatile and Scalable Manufacturing Platform

The ability to manufacture diverse product classes at meaningful production volumes represents an important step toward establishing practical industrial and biomedical manufacturing capabilities in space.

Many space manufacturing demonstrations focus on a single product type or proof-of-concept experiment. In contrast, this mission demonstrated a platform capable of producing multiple tissue types and implantable medical products during the same operational cycle. Such flexibility will become increasingly important as commercial space platforms evolve into multi-user research and manufacturing hubs supporting biotechnology, healthcare, and advanced materials development.

“This mission marks an exciting step forward for in-space biomanufacturing and demonstrates what can be achieved when innovative technology is paired with strong collaboration,” said Isac Lazarovits, Vice President of Engineering at Auxilium Biotechnologies. “Successfully manufacturing kidney, liver, and cartilage tissues while simultaneously producing 28 nerve repair implants demonstrates both the flexibility and scalability of our platform. Demonstrating multiple product classes and meaningful production volume within a single mission is an important milestone as we continue advancing toward routine manufacturing operations in orbit.”

Enabling the Next Generation of Biomedical Research

The successful bioprinting of kidney, liver, and cartilage tissues represents an important step toward enabling advanced biomedical research in space. One particularly promising application is the production of organoids, three-dimensional miniature tissue models that replicate key structural and functional characteristics of human organs. Organoids are increasingly used by researchers and pharmaceutical companies to study disease mechanisms, evaluate drug safety, screen new therapeutics, and predict responses to treatment.

Interest in organoid technologies has accelerated significantly as regulators and researchers seek more human-relevant alternatives to traditional animal testing. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has identified organoids and other advanced tissue models as important components of its New Approach Methodologies initiative, while the National Institutes of Health has expanded efforts to advance and validate next-generation non-animal research platforms.

Today, organoids used for space-based research are manufactured on Earth and transported to orbit. The ability to manufacture these biological models directly in space could provide researchers with on-demand access to experimental systems while reducing dependence on launch schedules and Earth-based supply chains. As commercial space stations begin supporting larger research programs, in-space production of organoids will create new opportunities for drug discovery, disease modeling, precision medicine, and human health research in microgravity.

By demonstrating the ability to manufacture multiple tissue types in orbit, Auxilium is helping establish the foundation for future space-based biomedical laboratories capable of producing advanced biological research tools whenever and wherever they are needed.

Building the Future of Orbital Manufacturing

As the International Space Station approaches retirement and a new generation of commercial space stations prepares to enter service, Auxilium is advancing its manufacturing technologies to support the future of research, biotechnology, and industrial production in low Earth orbit.

The company is pursuing a long-term strategy to enable biomanufacturing across emerging commercial destinations, including collaborations with Vast and Starlab, both of which are developing next-generation orbital platforms. Looking beyond low Earth orbit, Auxilium is developing manufacturing capabilities designed to support sustained human presence on the Moon and future deep-space exploration missions.

As governments and commercial providers expand humanity’s reach beyond Earth, the ability to manufacture critical medical products and biological materials on demand will become an increasingly important component of space infrastructure. This mission represents another step toward establishing the manufacturing capabilities needed to support scientific discovery, healthcare, and human exploration beyond Earth.

Auxilium Biotechnologies thanks the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine for its collaboration and scientific partnership on this mission. The company also would like to thank the astronauts aboard the International Space Station, the support and expertise of BioServe Space Technologies, Space Tango, and NASA’s InSPA program, all of whom played critical roles in the successful execution of this mission.

About Auxilium Biotechnologies

Auxilium Biotechnologies is a clinical-stage biotechnology and medical device company advancing regenerative medicine through innovative implantable therapies and space-based biomanufacturing. The company develops next-generation medical devices for traumatic injuries to the nervous system while pioneering microgravity bioprinting and biofabrication technologies designed to enable the manufacturing of complex biological products in space. Auxilium combines expertise in regenerative medicine, advanced manufacturing, clinical development, and commercial spaceflight to improve human health on Earth and support long-duration space exploration. For more information, please visit https://auxiliumbio.com/.

Nerve repair implant: Auxilium Biotechnologies successfully completed the first ever mission to bioprint both medical implants and biological tissues during a single spaceflight aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

Biological tissues: Auxilium Biotechnologies successful bioprinted kidney and liver tissues aboard the International Space Station (ISS), marking the first time either tissue type has been manufactured in space.

CAIRO (AP) — American forces struck three Iranian oil tankers after U.S. Navy warships were targeted with missiles, the U.S. military said Saturday, warning that it would “if necessary, destroy Iran’s limited and exposed oil fleet.”

The strikes — a day after U.S. President Donald Trump sought to minimize the conflict as “small potatoes” — keep up a new tilt back toward fighting after six months of on-again, off-again war that began with U.S. and Israeli attacks on Feb. 28. Both sides have sought to inflict both military and economic pain, and negotiations have collapsed.

The military’s statement said that an American aircraft carrier and a destroyer evaded “multiple unprovoked Iranian attacks” while patrolling in the region and no U.S. personnel were hurt. It said that two Iranian oil carriers were “permanently disabled” and the third, unladen one, was destroyed.

The U.S. statement said that the tankers were part of a shadow network helping to fund Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard and its armed proxies in the region.

There was no immediate Iranian response.

Earlier, Iranian state television had said that four U.S. missiles struck a tanker about 6 miles (10 kilometers) from Kharg Island, home to a terminal through which the country exports most of its oil. Kharg Island has been repeatedly targeted during the war, including U.S. strikes on military sites there in March.

The U.S. said that one tanker was struck off Kharg Island and another was struck near Jask, east of the Strait of Hormuz. The unladen tanker was hit in the Gulf of Oman, and the U.S. said its crew had been “directed to abandon ship.” The statement shared what it called video footage of the strikes.

“We will not hesitate to defend American forces, and if necessary, destroy Iran’s limited and exposed oil fleet,” said Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of U.S. Central Command.

The strikes came nearly a week after the U.S. and Iran resumed attacks following a month of relative calm, with the Strait of Hormuz and Iranian communities along it again being targeted. At least five people were killed earlier in the week during a U.S. bombardment of southern Iran. One strike hit a wedding.

Masoumeh Zarei, 13, was wounded in the attack. She spoke to The Associated Press at a hospital while being treated for injuries to her abdomen.

She said that the wedding celebration had already begun when she set out to join it. She never made it there. She was knocked unconscious when a telecommunications tower was struck. Her next memory was of waking up in a hospital.

“The party had just started, and we wanted to go there,” Zarei said, her voice hoarse. “I had made my nails really pretty for the party, but everything changed.”

Her friend, 14-year-old Kiana Karimi, also was wounded and in intensive care. She told the AP that she heard five explosions.

“The first three explosions at the telecommunications tower threw us to the ground,” Karimi said. “I quickly got up to pick my brothers up off the ground. Then there were two more explosions, and after that I don’t remember anything.”

The resumption of fighting in the past week came after new U.S. efforts to apply economic pressures on Tehran, whose hard-line new senior leaders have signaled the willingness to dig in after weathering decades of sanctions. The elected government of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, however, has said that it favors a negotiated end to the war.

Iran has found ways over the years to circumvent sanctions — and now a U.S. blockade of its ports — and get its oil to buyers to help ease growing economic pressures. That relies in part on a shadow fleet transporting its oil.

Meanwhile, the issue that helped lead to the war — Iran's nuclear program — was meant to be addressed in negotiations that fell apart soon after the U.S. and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding in mid-June. Instead, Tehran's new leverage focuses on the strait that is crucial to global oil and natural gas shipments and was seen as an international waterway before the war began.

The U.S. military has been helping to guide ships through the strait as Tehran asserts control and targets some vessels, but overall traffic remains low.

Cara Anna reported from Jerusalem.

Relatives visit Kiana Karimi, 14, who was wounded during a strike what Iranian media said was a U.S. strike late Tuesday, in Kuhestak, as she lies on the bed in a hospital in town of Minab in southern Iran, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Two people sit on rocks overlooking a beach as others swim and commercial vessels lie anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A man, woman and boy ride a motorcycle along the waterfront as commercial vessels lie anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A girl plays in the water with a swim ring as commercial vessels lie anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A swimmer remains near the shore as a motorboat passes commercial vessels anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)