Multus has recently unveiled what it claims is the world's first commercial-scale production plant for developing affordable, food-safe growth media for the cultivated meat industry.

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Cultivated Meat

UK Biotech Multus Unveils World’s First Commercial-Scale Serum-Free Growth Media Facility

British biotech Multus has recently unveiled what it claims is the world’s first commercial-scale production plant for developing affordable, serum-free growth media for the cultivated meat industry. The exact location of the facility has not been revealed yet.  This expansion comes after the company successfully raised £7.9 million in January to produce its growth media at scale, bolstered by a £2.15 million equity-free grant from Innovate UK through the EIC Accelerator.  In its initial phase, Multus raised Multus £1.6 million to launch Proliferum M, a growth medium for large-scale use in the food industry. Later, its ingredients received ISO 22000 certification, ensuring they are produced according to food safety standards. Accessing economies of scale Developing growth media without fetal bovine serum, a critical component for cell growth, has been a …

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Multus and New Wave Biotech are joining forces to accelerate the production of cultivated meat.

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Cultivated Meat

UK: Multus and New Wave Biotech Merge in AI Partnership to Lower the Costs of Cultivated Meat

Multus, a UK growth media innovator for cultivated meat, and London-based New Wave Biotech, a leader in AI bioprocess optimization software, are joining forces to lower the costs of cultivated meat using AI. Multus develops food-safe, animal-free growth media for the cultivated meat industry through AI, lab automation, and novel ingredients. New Wave Biotech develops AI bioprocess optimization software to help biotech companies launch their products more quickly and at a lower cost. Through the collaboration, Multus will harness the speed and accuracy of New Wave Biotech’s AI software to expand the production of its products at convenient prices. The software will help the growth media specialist create virtual experimentation on thousands of processes, leveraging real-life data for continual improvements. The AI eliminates unviable processes, accelerates …

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Extracellular launches low cost, licence-free cell banks

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Cultivated Meat

UK: Extracellular Launches Licence-Free Cell Banks to Support Cultivated Meat Research

UK CDMO Extracellular announces the launch of new low-cost cell banks — free from licensing or commercial restrictions — intended for early-stage cultivated meat companies and researchers. The cell banks offer high-quality cow, pig, and sheep primary cells isolated from fat, muscle, and bone marrow tissues. They were developed through a collaborative project with the British biotechnology company Multus. Backed by the Good Food Institute and New Harvest, the cell bank project received InnovateUK funds to advance cultivated meat research. Last April, the UK government announced a £12 million investment into a new initiative to advance cultivated meat (called CARMA) to help the country lead the world in delivering secure food supplies. Cell banks without restrictions Will Milligan, co-founder and CEO of Extracellular, said: “Primary cells are the …

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a collage of farm animals

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Cultivated, Cell-Cultured & Biotechnology

The Companies Removing Fetal Bovine Serum to Make Ethical, Slaughter-Free Meat

Last week, GOOD Meat received the first-in-the-world regulatory approval to use fetal bovine serum-free media in its cultivated poultry production process. With this significant milestone in the history of cultivated meat, we discuss the companies paving the way for ethical, slaughter-free meat. Removing fetal bovine serum (FBS) from cultivated meat production has been among the industry’s major challenges. FBS has been the default growth supplement for in vitro cell culture used by academic and industrial researchers and scientists, including in the cellular agriculture space. Ethically problematic Fetal bovine serum is made by harvesting the blood of bovine fetuses taken from pregnant cows during slaughter. Blood from the fetus is drawn out via a closed collection system and then transformed into a serum. FBS contains growth factors, hormones, …

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multus animal-free growth medium product

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Cultivated, Cell-Cultured & Biotechnology

Multus Raises £7.9M for “First-of-its-Kind” Animal-Free Growth Media Facility

British biotechnology company Multus announces it has raised a £7.9 million funding round for the “first-of-its-kind” facility to produce food-safe, animal-free growth media for the cultivated meat industry.  The round was led by Mandi Ventures and included Big Idea Ventures, SynBioVen, and Asahi Kasei. Additionally, Multus received an equity-free grant of £2.15 million from Innovate UK through the EIC Accelerator, which funds and invests in game-changing innovation startups through the EIC Fund. Growth media accounting for majority of cost According to Multus, animal-free growth media is necessary for the affordable scale-up of cellular agriculture. “Growth media causes the majority of costs, and tackling this challenge provides the greatest benefit for industrial-scale cultivated meat production. This next-generation growth media allows cultivated meat producers to reduce development costs and …

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