A month after announcing it had commenced operations at what it claims to be China’s first large-scale pilot plant for cultivated meat, CellX states this week it has made significant strides towards the industrial application of cultivated seafood.
“Through the use of high-throughput equipment and systematic research methods for cell fate regulation, we achieved successful suspension differentiation of fish cells in only six months, which typically requires one to two years in the industry,” states CellX R&D Director Dr. Shuangshuang Chen in a press release.
CellX secured $6.5 million in Series A+ funding this June to establish the pilot plant and has gone on to achieve a series of milestones in the three months that have passed. The company has now successfully completed the pilot production of cultivated fish cells in a 200-liter bioreactor, where the first batch of cells “grew well” with a maximum cell growth density of nearly 20 million cells per milliliter.
Cost effective cell cultivation at scale
The company states that the cost of producing the first batch of resulting cultivated fish products was less than 400 yuan per unit which equates to around $55 USD, and that the cost advantage of cultivating fish at industrial level will become more significant in future. “We are confident that through continuous technological iteration, we can achieve cost-effective mass production of cultivated fish,” comments Dr. Chen.
Dr. Chen reports that the team has achieved rapid transition from small-scale experimentation to large-scale production, paving the way for commercial production of cultivated fish. “We expect this technology to play an important role in ensuring food security and promoting sustainable fisheries development.”
Co-founder and CEO Ziliang Yang adds: “As global attention continues to focus on food security, carbon neutrality, and other issues, as well as growing concerns about marine pollution and overfishing, efficient, controlled, and safe cultivated aquatic products hold tremendous market potential. Through platform technology support, we are actively developing a series of high-value aquatic products including grouper and yellow croaker, providing strong technical support for future high-value seafood products entering the market.”
More information can be found at www.cellx.cn/
