UK CDMO Extracellular has announced the launch of a new low-cost cell bank — free from licensing or commercial restrictions — aimed at early-stage cultured meat companies and researchers.
Cell banks provide high-quality bovine, porcine and sheep primary cells isolated from fat, muscle and bone marrow tissue. They were developed through a collaborative project with British biotechnology company Maltas.
Supported by the Good Food Institute and New Harvest, the Cell Bank project has received InnovateUK funding to advance cultured meat research. Last April, the UK government announced a £12 million investment in a new initiative to advance farmed meat (called CARMA) to help the country lead the world in delivering a safe food supply.
Cell bank without limitation
Will Milligan, co-founder and CEO of Extracellular, said: “Primary cells are the building blocks Cultured meat is for research, but good cells are too difficult for many researchers to access in industry and academia. We expect more by bringing our cell banks to the market Researchers can develop new cell lines, media formulations, processes and technologies, Without limitation from licensing or commercial agreements.”
According to Extracellular, primary cells for cultured meat research are expensive and do not guarantee quality, viability or origin. Moreover, their use is generally limited or limited, limiting the possible technologies and methods.
But the newly developed banks, in addition to being up to 90% cheaper than existing banks, provide information on the age, breed and sex of the animal, from cell birth, the CDMO said.
Extracellular worked with local farmers and University of Bristol Veterinary School to obtain tissue samples. Multus provides protocols and key materials to de-risk cell bank projects in addition to independent quality control for cell identification, cryopreservation, and growth. characterization
Moving the industry forward
Last March, Extracellular announced that it has secured funding from various investors, bringing its total funds raised Over $1.9 million. The company provides services to support the development, manufacturing and further commercial requirements of any cellular agro-based product. it is Science Creates in Bristol operates a 200L bioreactor in its research labs and has plans to expand its capacity.
a lot In January, it announced a £7.9 million funding round for a “first-of-a-kind” facility to develop food-safe, animal-free growing media for the cultured meat industry. According to Maltas, cost-effective scale-up of farmed meat requires animal-free growth media.
Kai Linton, CEO of Maltas, said: “I am excited to see the impact of this collaboration The UK farmed meat industry will have extracellular. Multus is waiting Working with academic researchers and farmed meat companies to develop innovative technologies It will move the industry forward using cell banks as an active resource.”
Extracellular has announced plans to develop more animal species and tissues in the future. The cell banks will be available from July 2023 onwards