BSF Enterprise and Cell Rev announce joint venture to scale up UK lab-grown meat production

BSF, the biotech company and owner of UK-based tissue engineering company 3D Bio-Tissues (3DBT) and corneal tissue replacement company Kerato, has entered into a Terms Sheet for an exclusive JV with CellulaRevolution Ltd (CellRev), a leader in continuous cell manufacturing , to help develop a new food-tech company focused on developing, and offering to the market, an end-to-end solution for manufacturing cultivated meat at scale.

The JV, Cultivated Meat Technologies (CMT), will combine CellRev’s continuous bioprocessing expertise, that can facilitate faster, cheaper and more sustainable production of muscle cells, with 3DBT’s leading knowhow in forming meat tissue and its City-Mix animal-free cell culture supplement. City-Mix is already used in the growth of  skin, muscle and fat cells for use in cultivated meat. The aim of CMT is to provide the market with the premier platform for manufacturing cultivated meat in a scalable and cost-competitive manner.

The joint venture will develop a harmonised technology offering with a focus on both upstream and downstream processes, to provide scale-up capabilities for cultivated meat production, addressing what is a significant challenge for the growth of the industry. CMT will seek to deliver this through licencing agreements with established meat-producers that can provide production know-how, capital allocation and supply chain relationships. It will also work to establish strategic partnerships with local distributors and retailers to ensure efficient distribution and market penetration.

Initial activities of CMT will include the development of the processes and technology necessary to showcase meat fillets manufactured in a scalable manner that can translate into a mass production facility. Alongside technology development, CMT will be focused on establishing key partnerships to assist with the production of the cultured meat feedstock and supply of product into the existing supply chain for portioning, packaging and distributing to traditional markets across Europe, the US and Asia.

BSF will seek to finalize the legal terms of the joint venture with CellRev and form CMT in the coming months. The company will provide a further update on the development of CMT in Q1 2024, setting out its strategy for the financial year.  

“Cultivated meat is at the cutting edge of alternative protein production, but as with anything this nascent, the scale-up and cost challenges are existential and only through true collaboration and open innovation will we find the solutions," commented Chris Green, CEO of CellRev. "We have observed the early success of 3D Bio tissues with great interest and believe that by combining our knowhow and technology offering, we can offer the market one of the most scalable production platforms currently available.”

“The biggest challenge we face in addressing climate change, securing food security and ensuring animal welfare is scaling the production of cultivated meat products for a growing global mass market," added Che Connon, Managing Director of BSF. "This joint venture with our key partner, CellRev, will combine technological expertise, manufacturing capability and capital allocation to begin producing environmentally sustainable and high-quality meat products for the wholesale market.”