Cultivated meat pioneer Aleph Farms has announced a long-term agreement with Thermo Fisher Scientific, a world leader in scientific materials, instruments, and services, to establish a supply chain for growth media. The partnership will make the production of cultivated meat cost-efficient since feed is essential for the proliferation and growth of cells.
“Across cellular agriculture, there is a pervasive need for predictable, cost-effective supply of growth media,” said Noa Avigdor, head of global supply chain & manufacturing at Aleph Farms.
Lowering costs
The commercialization of cultivated meat is hindered by the costly production expenses of specialized growth media for cell culture, posing a significant challenge for the industry.
The new agreement will allow Thermo Fisher Scientific to produce some of Aleph Farms’ formulations for growth media at scale and become an industry supplier, furthering Aleph Farms’ mission to provide solutions that benefit the entire sector.
Aleph Farms’ previous collaboration with Wacker Biotech to provide food-grade growth medium proteins also aims to eliminate significant cost barriers in the industry.
“To keep the cost of growth media in check, it’s important to forge the right supply chain partnerships. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s professionalism and expertise in media production make all the difference. Collaborating with them will continue to bear fruit,” commented Ayelet Maor Shoshani, director of cell line and media development at Aleph Farms.
Achieving price-parity
Aleph Farms unveiled the world’s first cultivated thin-cut steak in 2018 and its first cultivated ribeye steak in 2021. The company’s whole-animal approach aims to create different cuts of steak and other products from animal cells, including cultivated collagen.
Recently, the company reported it is working with regulatory agencies worldwide to launch a premium Angus-style thin steak to be marketed as the Petit Steak. It will be Aleph Cuts’ first product, expected to launch in Singapore and Israel later this year.
This agreement, moreover, will ensure Aleph Farms a reliable and cost-effective supply of growth media, which is necessary for its operations to scale up, meeting, at the same time, the requirements set by relevant regulatory agencies for the food industry.
“This strategic agreement helps us achieve long-term supply chain stability, a necessary condition for scaling production and price parity with conventional animal products”, added Avigdor.
