Today, Redwire and Wake Forest Institute of Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) have announced their decision to postpone the launch of the 3D bio-printed liver tissue experiment, MVP-CELL-07, due to unexpected deterioration of the tissue samples observed during pre-launch preparations. The experiment was set to launch on an upcoming commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station on August 3.

Due to the sensitivity of the liver tissue samples and complexity of the experiment, the teams continuously monitored and measured several parameters of cell tissue health throughout the week in preparation for launch day. During the course of pre-launch procedures, it was determined that the condition of the samples had deteriorated and were no longer viable for spaceflight and therefore could not be loaded into Redwire’s hardware. Redwire is working closely with WFIRM, NASA, and ISS National Laboratory to identify the next available flight mission to launch the experiment with new tissue samples.

Redwire will launch four drug manufacturing experiments in the company’s Pharmaceutical In-space Laboratory Bio-crystal Optimization eXperiment (PIL-BOX) system on this upcoming flight, marking the third spaceflight mission for PIL-BOX in the last 10 months. Redwire aims to use these frequent flight missions to optimize the system’s performance and demonstrate novel crystal formation to be utilized for new drug development.