Israel-based BioBetter has launched its food-grade pilot facility aimed at manufacturing growth factors essential for cultivated meat production.
Utilising tobacco plants as self-sufficient, animal-free bioreactors, BioBetter's innovative protein manufacturing platform seeks to bring down the steep costs associated with lab-grown meat.
BioBetter CEO Amit Yaari said, “We focus on marketing raw materials like growth factors, crucial for cultivated meat production. Our aim is to lower the cost of such growth factors to $1 per gram — a hundredfold decrease from current market prices."
While cultivated meat — real meat grown in labs — offers a more ethical and potentially sustainable alternative to traditional meat, its high production costs remain a stumbling block.
Companies like Aleph Farms have succeeded in creating small lab-grown steaks but the production costs run into hundreds to thousands of dollars.
Lower costs
BioBetter's advancements could dramatically lower these costs.
BioBetter has accomplished several milestones in the past year, including the scaling up of production and achieving significant regulatory progress with the Israel Ministry of Health. The company has also established partnerships with key players in the cultivated meat industry.
Constructed to meet stringent quality and regulatory standards, the new pilot facility can process up to 100 kilograms of tobacco plant-derived growth factors daily. The plants are meticulously engineered to avert the release of any transgenic material and will be cultivated on a large scale.
Sustainability woven in
"Sustainability is woven into every facet of our operations," added Yaari, outlining plans to use recycled water and minimise nitrogen fertiliser use. The firm has garnered US$10 million in an A-round investment led by Jerusalem Venture Partners and is a key player in the Israeli Cultivated Meat Consortium.
The global cultivated meat market, valued at US$250 million, requires an adequate supply of growth factors to scale affordably.
Aviv Oren, director of Business Engagement and Innovation at the Good Food Institute, Israel, noted that BioBetter's technology was a "pivotal addition" with the potential to catalyse the cultivated industry.
Several thousand square metres of FGF2-expressing tobacco plants are already thriving in northern Israel. BioBetter is planning the commercial roll-out of more food-grade growth factors including insulin and FGF2-expressing plants, slated for 2024, solidifying its commitment to scale and affordability in the cultivated meat sector.