NESS ZIONA, ISRAEL — Food technology company Aleph Farms announced a partnership with Enzymit, a bioproduction platform company, to reduce production costs for cultivated meat and bring its products to the market quicker.
Aleph Farms noted that developing non-animal-derived serum protein mimetics that support cell growth is the biggest obstacle for cultivated meat production. With limited proteins that support meat cultivation, Aleph Farms looked to Enzymit to co-develop insulin substituents.
Together, the companies successfully developed insulin substituents in microorganisms. The proteins can fulfill the function of those found naturally in animals and can perform with greater desired activity per molecule.
“Developing more suitable processing aids for the production of cultivated meat is imperative for driving economies of scale and taking cultivated meat mainstream,” said Neta Lavon, chief technology officer of Aleph Farms. “This innovation, combining Enzymit’s outstanding protein design and experimental capabilities with our team’s expertise in cellular agriculture, is helping to build the foundations for our sector to achieve cost-efficiency and long-term impact.”
“Aleph Farms has been an invaluable partner for this initiative, which can pave the way for more cost-efficient production of cultivated meat,” said Gideon Lapidoth, chief executive officer of Enzymit. “With recombinant proteins currently accounting for the overwhelming majority of cell culture costs, creating highly stable and more active insulin substituents can markedly reduce the cost of growth media and increase efficiency in producing cultivated meat at scale.”