2024 saw some major investments, partnerships and innovations in the global cellular agriculture space. Below are the top five most-read stories from The Cell Base website this year.

Cocoon Bioscience opens plant to produce recombinant proteins in cocoons

In October, Spanish biotech firm Cocoon Bioscience inaugurated its new plant at the Bizkaia Technology Park in Derio, Spain.

The plant specialises in the manufacturing of Cocoon’s recombinant proteins and is the ‘world’s first’ industrial-scale plant that produces these proteins using living bioreactors. The high-performance growth factors are designed for use in the alt-protein industry, specifically in cell-based meat.

Cocoon’s Crisbio technology utilises insects (pupae of Trichoplusia ni – a medium sized moth also known as a cabbage looper) in their chrysalis stage as high-efficiency, low-cost natural bioreactors. This method is more natural, scalable and accessible compared to traditional fermentation methods using bacteria, which relies on stainless steel bioreactors.

Spanning 4000-square-metres and with 2300-square metres designated for production, the facility has the capacity to generate an annual output of 5kg of recombinant protein, with the potential to increase capacity beyond 20kg.

Read more here.

Illinois injects $680m in biotech sector through government investment strategy

In March, the US state of Illinois advanced its presence in the biotech sector through a government investment strategy, enhancing its biomanufacturing and precision fermentation capabilities.

The initiative, led by Governor JB Pritzker, is in partnership with Innovate Illinois – a coalition that launched in February, aimed at securing federal investment in science, technology, and climate initiatives within the state.

Governer Pritzker and Innovate Illinois announced $680 million to create the Illinois Fermentation and Agriculture Biomanufacturing (iFAB) Tech Hub, supported by public and private funding.

The iFAB initiative is led by the Integrated Bioprocessing Research Laboratory (IBRL) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, in partnership with 30 other key stakeholders. It aims to leverage the state’s agricultural strengths to drive innovation and economic growth within the sustainable biomanufacturing sector.

Read more here.

Massachusetts invests $2.1m to create new cell-ag centre at Tufts University

October saw the Healey-Driscoll administration and the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MassTech) award $2.14 million to the Tufts University Center for Cellular Agriculture (TUCCA).

The funding will be used to establish the Foodtech Engineering for Alternative Sustainable Technologies (FEAST) centre, which will advance cellular agriculture research at Tufts.

The grant, made through MassTech’s Center for Advanced Manufacturing (CAM) Massachusetts Manufacturing Innovation Initiative (M2I2) programme, is designed to help close the gap between innovation and commercialisation for Massachusetts manufacturers.

The FEAST centre will help companies and academic partners advance the prototyping of cell-ag products using cutting-edge equipment and is expected to create 60 new jobs in Massachusetts’ bioindustrial manufacturing ecosystem.

The centre’s high-tech equipment will enable partners to produce cells and form those cells into final products, as well as a test kitchen to evaluate taste, texture and other product features.

Read more here.

Ivy Farm and Synbio Powerlabs partner to produce cultivated meat at ‘world’s largest’ facility

In May, Synbio Powerlabs and Ivy Farm Technologies announced a new scale-up and manufacturing partnership aimed at pioneering the use of mammalian cells in large food-grade fermenters at Synbio’s new hub.

With the support of a €2.99 million grant from the Finnish government, Synbio Powerlabs is transforming a large food-grade facility, located near Helsinki, into a multi-purpose site for food innovation.

The new facility, due to go live in early 2025, has been designed to help scale the production capabilities of start-ups operating in innovative industries such as precision fermentation, biomass fermentation and cell-based meat.

The facility has pilot scale equipment and production scales at 10,000 litres and 27,000 litres and will also have six, 250,000 litre manufacturing vessels, which, once opened, will make it the largest facility of its kind in the world.

As part of this partnership, Ivy Farm will be the first to demonstrate the scalability of mammalian cells in food-grade vessels at this level of output. For Ivy Farm, this collaboration offers a strategic advantage, mitigating CAPEX costs and risks associated with scaling up production by gaining access to Synbio Powerlabs' expertise and existing facilities.

Read more here.

ORF Genetics and Vow announce success of cell-based meat tasting in Europe

Earlier this year, Icelandic biotech ORF Genetics and Australian cell-based meat company Vow announced the success of a cultured meat tasting in Europe.

The tasting, which took place on 12 February, saw various professionals taste dishes created from the cells of Japanese quail.

Among those attending was the Prime Minister and acting Minister of Food, Fisheries and Agriculture of Iceland, Katrín Jakobsdóttir, who ‘enjoyed’ her first taste of cell-based meat at the event.

Berglind Rán Ólafsdóttir, CEO of ORF Genetics, commented: "We are excited to bring this innovative, novel food product for this milestone tasting event here in Iceland, showcasing that not only is cultivated meat a more sustainable alternative to traditional meat – but that it is also a delicious one. ORF's barley-grown growth factors allow cultured meat companies like Vow not only to grow but to rapidly scale-up its production to meet future-market demands."

Read more here.

Come back tomorrow for the next five biggest news stories from The Cell Base this year!