Bioprinting Breakthrough: Vital3D Starts With Dogs, Aims for Human Organs in a Decade

In a small lab in Vilnius, Lithuania, a biotech startup called Vital3D is growing skin for dogs and laying the foundation to one day print entire human organs.

Vital3D’s CEO Vidmantas Šakalys says bioprinted kidneys and hearts could be just 10 to 15 years away. But before tackling that immense challenge, the company is starting with something more immediate: regenerative wound patches for pets. These bioprinted bandages, known as VitalHeal, mark the company’s first commercial product.

They’re more than just high-tech stickers. Embedded with growth factors and built with ultra-precise laser printing, the patches reduce healing time, cut down on infections, and may eventually be adapted for human medicine.

“We need viable products to fund the bigger goal,” Šakalys explains. “We’re starting with skin, but the real mission is to print functional human organs for transplant.”

A patch for pets, a platform for humans

The VitalHeal patch looks simple, but it’s packed with tech. A layer of living cells and materials mimics the way natural skin regenerates. Microscopic pores let air through while keeping bacteria out. Growth factors stimulate faster healing, and the patch maintains steady pressure on wounds.

Trials in rats were promising. Wounds healed in under half the time compared to traditional care. Now, the company is moving to canine trials in Lithuania and the UK, targeting a market worth more than a billion euros annually. They plan to launch a non-degradable version for pets in Europe next year, followed by a biodegradable patch and human applications focused on diabetic wound care.

At €300 retail, the patch isn’t cheap — but it could cut pet treatment costs in half by reducing surgeries and vet visits. If successful, it gives Vital3D a stable revenue stream while advancing its organ printing ambitions.

The tech behind the tissue

Vital3D’s printing system, FemtoBrush, is based on high-speed lasers that cure bio-ink into precise shapes. Unlike traditional 3D printers, it can sculpt complex microstructures with living cells embedded inside.

The light beam is tunable, allowing it to replicate different tissue architectures. The goal is to print complex living structures like skin, blood vessels, or even entire kidneys with patient-specific shapes.

But huge scientific hurdles remain. One of the biggest is vascularisation — forming networks of blood vessels that can keep larger tissues alive. Another is coaxing stem cells to become all the different types of tissue found in a single organ.

Šakalys says their current focus is solving blood vessel formation, followed by cellular differentiation. “If we can print fewer cells and guide them to become what we need, it changes everything,” he says.

A bigger mission

Šakalys, an engineer with a background in photonics, has long worked on high-precision lasers. His previous startup, Femtika, used them to make components for medical and aerospace tech. Vital3D repurposes those same lasers to work inside living tissue.

It’s not just about making organs for transplant. The company is already building tiny organoids — simplified organ models — for testing cancer drugs. Another project involves 3D-printed stents, which are currently in animal trials.

But organs remain the ultimate goal. With fewer than 10% of patients globally receiving the transplants they need, and over 90,000 people in the US alone waiting for a kidney, the need is urgent.

Šakalys believes bioprinting could not only ease the shortage but also allow for safer, personalised transplants built from a patient’s own cells.

“It’s not just about fixing disease,” he says. “It’s about building biology from scratch.”

If Vital3D succeeds, the road from healing dogs to printing human organs might be shorter than we think.