NEW TECH FOODS

UK-based growth media developer Multus has announced the opening of the Wave Production Facility, in what it claims is the “world’s first” commercial-scale production plant for developing serum-free growth media for the cell-based meat sector.

While the exact location of the facility has not been revealed, Multus says the new site is capable of supporting cell-based meat production in excess of 500,000 kg per year.

The company's expansion was made possible by a £7.9 million funding round in January last year, in addition to a £2.15 million equity-free grant from Innovate UK via the EIC Accelerator.

Multus says it is innovating to de-risk and coordinate cell-based meat’s complex supply chain through various endeavours, including agricultural feedstock valorisation, which has the potential to deliver much lower costs at readily available scale; food-safe formulations optimised by cell type for cell performance; reconfigured manufacturing capacity, built to serve cell-based meat with efficiency and convenience; and research into ingredient safety and work with regulators to help establish and understand the impacts of regulatory frameworks for cell-based meat growth media.

In a statement, Multus said: “Our first-of-its-kind facility allows Multus to balance food and bio-pharmaceutical production processes and add new industry-specific quality control and safety data for cultivated meat companies globally to bring new products to market quicker with growth media that scales”.