“Regenerative therapies have the potential to transform care for people with complex bone defects, but they can be difficult and expensive to manufacture. At King's, we will contribute our expertise in trustworthy AI to develop systems that can support real-time monitoring, optimisation and quality control throughout the manufacturing process. “By combining AI with automation, we aim to simplify production without compromising safety or quality, helping more patients across Europe access these treatments.”
Dr Yunpeng Li, Reader in AI & Digital Oral Health
04 September 2026
New European project to improve bone regenerative therapy
Millions of people worldwide live with facial and skull bone defects caused by trauma, cancer, congenital conditions and severe infections. BioFACTORy, a new €8.1 million European research project aims to make regenerative treatments more accessible and affordable.
Current stem cell-based treatments show significant promise for repairing bone defects, but manufacturing them is labour-intensive and expensive, often costing more than €30,000 per patient. These costs remain a major barrier to wider clinical adoption. BioFACTORy aims to reduce costs and improve consistency by automating the entire production process, from cell growth and quality control to bioimplant manufacturing.
Funded by €8.1 million from Horizon Europe, the four-year project brings together 14 partners from nine countries to develop a fully automated, AI-powered platform for manufacturing stem cell-based bioimplants. The consortium includes the University of Bergen, Ulm University, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, King's College London, Technical University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt, Istituto Mario Negri IRCCS, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, University of Barcelona, Silesian University of Technology, CELLINK, Ocean TuniCell, F6S, NovaSign GmbH and PreSens Precision Sensing GmbH.
King's College London is one of the four consortium lead organisations. Dr Yunpeng Li will lead the project’s AI module at King's, contributing expertise in trustworthy artificial intelligence to help optimise and monitor the manufacturing system.
Professor Owen Addison, Dean for Research, Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences, King's College London, said:
"I am pleased to see King's playing a key role in this pioneering European collaboration. BioFACTORy combines scientific excellence with real-world impact, and I look forward to seeing how its advances in AI-driven manufacturing help accelerate the translation of regenerative therapies from the laboratory to the clinic."
Dr Shuntaro Yamada, from the University of Bergen, Scientific Manager for the project and a King’s alumnus and Visiting Lecturer in Regenerative Dentistry, said:
“One of the biggest barriers to bringing stem cell therapies to patients is the cost. Today, producing these therapies can cost tens of thousands of euros per patient, making large-scale clinical use difficult.”
Over the next four years, the project will generate the evidence and technologies needed to support future clinical implementation. Ultimately, the project aims to make advanced regenerative treatments more accessible to patients who need them, while significantly reducing production costs and improving treatment availability across Europe.
Professor Kamal Mustafa, Professor at University of Bergen and Project Coordinator, concluded:
“BioFACTORy is an excellent example of the impact that strong European collaboration can achieve. Bringing together researchers, clinicians and industry, we aim to translate promising laboratory-based therapies into safe, scalable and clinically relevant solutions. By combining stem cells, biofabrication, automation and AI, we aim to accelerate regenerative therapies from the laboratory to the clinic. As coordinator, I am proud and excited to lead this multidisciplinary consortium towards bringing innovative treatments closer to patients.”
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HADEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
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Reader in AI & Digital Oral Health