Cell tradition media, made up of basal media and a mix of development issue, is a compulsory enter for all cultivated meat manufacturing: the media provides cells with the mandatory vitamins to proliferate in vitro.
It’s also one of many major value drivers for cultivated meat. Though unavoidable, cell tradition media is very often a ‘prohibitively’ costly part of the cell tradition course of, based on CellRev. The UK-based bioprocessing firm expects that as the sphere scales, it is going to grow to be ‘much more’ essential to considerably scale back the price and cell tradition media waste.
In an effort to handle each these components, CellRev has signed a joint improvement settlement (JDA) with US-headquartered Saint-Gobain Life Sciences to develop a ‘pioneering’ course of for media rejuvenation.
The rationale cell tradition media isn’t readily reused now’s that toxins are secreted by cells into the expansion media, defined Dr Ajay Tharakan, head of bioprocessing at CellRev.
However the firm believes that by combining its bioprocessing experience with Saint-Gobain Life Sciences’ filtration capabilities will allow the event of an answer that may take away toxins and replenish spent media, permitting it to be circulated again into the method.
Collectively, the companions will scope, design and check a media rejuvenation resolution to be built-in downstream of cell harvesting to scale back waste within the cell cultivation course of.
“The intention is for the expertise to be a drop in resolution that any firm can simply incorporate into the manufacturing line, however the specifics are nonetheless to be outlined as a part of the mission,” Dr Tharakan advised FoodNavigator.
The objective is to permit for the recirculation of as a lot media as doable. The proportion of media that may be retained, and consequent value financial savings that may be achieved utilizing the expertise, may even be decided as a part of the mission, the bioprocessing lead revealed.
However in the end, Dr Tharakan expects the tech to assist convey down the price of cultivated meat manufacturing for trade, and the value of cultivated meat merchandise for customers.
“Cell tradition is a rising discipline utilised to provide numerous merchandise that tackle human and planetary well being challenges. As we enter the bio-evolution, cell tradition is of monumental significance and but, we can not meet projected demand with the applied sciences and infrastructure presently obtainable,” mentioned CellRev CEO Chris Inexperienced.
By ‘revolutionising’ cell cultivation, Inexperienced expects to make the method extra sustainable while bringing down the price and decreasing waste within the course of.
For Narendar Yeshwanth, VP of R&D and Innovation at Saint-Gobain Life Sciences, the partnership gives a chance to help the rising demand for sustainability in bioprocessing.
“With our materials experience and specifically engineered filtration options coupled with CellRev’s steady cell processing platform, we anticipate to develop cost-saving options that scale back the high-cost media use in bioprocessing as we speak.
“Our collaboration with the CellRev crew will assist ship a sustainable resolution that may impression a number of markets.”
A number of phases of improvement are deliberate previous to commercialisation, which means the companions anticipate the mission will conclude – and merchandise shall be made obtainable – in 2024.
