Public Funding for Marrabio Limited

World meat consumption has tripled since 1970 and will increase a further 76% by 2050\. In the future, there will not be enough meat available for the world's population. This shortage will hit low-and-middle-income countries, where meat is an important but limited source of nutrient-dense protein, vitamins and minerals, especially hard. Over 80 billion animals are slaughtered annually for meat, the majority being factory-farmed. Increasing livestock production isn't the answer as this promotes climate change, environmental destruction and infectious disease spread. Livestock farming generates 15% of human-made greenhouse gas (GHG) and will contribute 0.5°C to global temperatures if continued. Cattle-ranching and animal-feed crops also account for most agricultural water use and 85% of rainforest clearance. Overcrowding and poor welfare standards help spread diseases, including swine and avian flu, and are major contributors to human food poisoning. Excessive livestock antibiotic use is fueling increases in antibiotic-resistant bacteria which render antibiotic medication useless: Alarmingly, antibiotic-resistant pathogens are forecast to cause greater mortality than cancer by 2050\. Cultivated meat (CM) grows animal cells in bioreactors to produce a product similar to conventional meat but without the need for any animal suffering. CM will also use fewer resources (energy, land and water) and produces less GHG, counteracting environmental issues. Since CM only requires a few cells from animals, it eliminates farming welfare issues and antibiotic use. CM, which appeals to consumers considerate of these issues, is undertaken in carefully controlled, sterile conditions vastly improving food safety. The global US$246.9Mn CM market is set to increase to $6.8Bn by 2030\. However, to achieve this forecast, this new approach needs to produce meat at a scale before it can then address future meat shortages. The first CM burger cost $330,000, demonstrating edible CM products are possible albeit at very high costs. The challenge is to make CM in large amounts, using a cost-effective and market-competitive process. Millions of tons of meat are consumed annually, so this will ultimately necessitate the development of massive (\>10,000L) bioreactors capable of generating very high-density cell cultures. This requires cells capable of growing under demanding conditions and carefully balancing nutrients and cell-toxic by-products. These nutrients (such as growth factors) need to be cheap, well-characterised and perform consistently. This project combines the skills and capabilities of three UK universities and four UK companies developing livestock cell lines, recombinant protein technologies, hydrogels and bioreactor components to collaboratively develop technological solutions for CM production.

Cultivated meat promises to revolutionize the food industry by providing a more ethical and greener alternative to animal products, whilst retaining the same taste and texture. However, these products are being held back by the technical complexity of production and, in particular, the high cost of materials used in their manufacture. It is estimated that costs need to be reduced by 99% or more. A major contributor to these costs are the proteins used in production which supply biological cues to stimulate growth and ensure that the right type of meat cells are produced. Unless the cost of these proteins can be reduced by 99% or more, the sector will not be economically viable. MarraBio has have developed a radically new way to make alternatives to the proteins currently used. Its materials can be made in very large quantities, and at a cost which will make cultivated meat economically viable. So far, MarraBio has produced "research grade" versions of the products and have preliminary evidence that they will meet the needs of the sector. In the project, MarraBio will demonstrate that the products can be produced at scale and at a quality where they will meet the regulatory requirements needed for their use in cultivated meat production. If successful, by the end of the project we will be in a position to launch our products on this rapidly growing market. To achieve these aims MarraBio are partnering with the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) and Aelius Biotech. CPI is a leader in protein manufacturing and analysis and will assist MarraBio in refining its manufacturing techniques to provide tight control over product quality and potency. Aelius Biotech have developed a model of the gut that predicts how ingested substances will affect the digestive system. Their involvement will allow MarraBio to test how their products are processed on ingestion - a critical safety step -- whilst allowing Aelius to further develop their technology towards the needs of this sector. With all participants based in North East England, their collaboration will support the rapidly growing cultivated meat sector in the region. The outcomes of the project will have a significant impact on the ability to economically produce cultivated meat. This will provide a high quality, potent product that simplifies and reduces the cost of cultivated meat manufacture.

World meat consumption has tripled since 1970 and will increase a further 76% by 2050, posing a significant sustainability challenge. Livestock farming contributes to 15% of human-made greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which further exacerbates climate change, environmental destruction, and infectious disease outbreaks. Cultivated meat (CM) is an approach that rather than utilising animal agriculture as a source of proteins for human consumption, uses cell-based technologies to grow protein in a slaughter-free way. CM requires fewer resources, including energy, land, and water, and generates fewer GHG emissions compared to traditional livestock farming. It also eliminates concerns related to animal welfare and excessive antibiotic use. The major barriers preventing this approach from entering the consumer market relate to a mixture of economic and technical barriers. For this technological approach to be realized three principle components are needed, cells, growth media, and machines. This project seeks to develop panels of cell lines (the starting basis of all cultivated meat, Unicorn Bio, Trading as Dragon Bio) that will be released for sale to cultivated meat R&D tool developers and commercial manufacturers. Furthermore, we seek to develop growth media additives (MarraBio) that, simultaneously, significantly extend the variety of cell types amenable to be manufactured at industrial scales and vastly reduce the cost of such production. Thereby enabling the industry to move towards techno-economic feasibility, as well as the mass manufacture and consumer market entry of such products