ORF Genetics scales growth factor production for cultivated meat: ‘The question is not if this market will grow, but when’

But CEO Berglind Rán Ólafsdóttir says she remains “absolutely convinced cultivated meat will be part of the future food system, alongside other alternative proteins. While some cultivated meat firms have optimized their cell lines to thrive with fewer advance factors, told reporters Rán Ólafsdóttir, “Developing methods without growth factors may be far more expensive and riskier than relying on affordable MESOkine available at the scale this industry requires.” She added: “We fully expect cultivated meat growers to keep optimizing their media, including how they use expansion factors.

Molecular farming Growth factors—signaling proteins used in cell culture media to stimulate cell advance. Differentiation in cultivated meat production—are typically made via precision fermentation using engineered microbes in costly steel tanks. As a result, they can come with a hefty rate tag, putting pressure on firms to explore alternative production systems from fruit flies to tobacco plants to barley , ORF Genetics’ favored host.

Júlíus Kristinsson, ORF Genetics initially focused on human advance factors for stem cell investigation with its ISOkine line, which it is now expanding into medical diagnostics and cell therapy. It then moved into cosmetics with its DERMOkine line, producing a range of human advance factors including EGF, a protein that stimulates the production of elastin and collagen and plays a starring role in a high-end skincare line BIOEFFECT (spun out of ORF Genetics in 2022). Barley is an ideal planting to engineer since it does not invade natural habitats, while ORF Genetics’ self-pollinating varieties (which do not cross-pollinate with neighboring harvests via insects or wind) are self-contained, states the company.

Meanwhile, greenhouse and open field production are both lower priced than precision fermentation (producing advance factors using microbes), asserted Rán Ólafsdóttir. “Our protein factory is simply the barley seed, which is an inexpensive and highly scalable factory.” Downstream processing costs are also lower as the expansion factors in barley do not have to be highly purified to work in cultivated meat production. Products made with our MESOkine advance factors have already passed regulatory approvals in multiple countries. A marked part of our customer service is our quality team works closely with shoppers to support their approval processes.”