Cellular agriculture has the potential to transform food production and positively impact future food security and sustainability. Immediate priorities for cultivated meat and dairy process development include optimizing serum-free cell culture media in parallel with cell-line development to maximise biomass production in bioreactor conditions. Developing scalable media ingredient supply chains and infrastructure investment is also critical for this sector’s success.
Growth factors, the speciality of Qkine, are critical components of cell culture media and provide a carefully orchestrated set of biochemical signals to control cell growth and fate. High purity, animal origin-free and optimized growth factors produced in an efficient microbial fermentation process currently provide the most reliable and reproducible solution for cultivated meat and cellular agriculture.
High purity animal-type growth factors from agriculturally relevant species
This new range of high quality food grade proteins from agriculturally relevant species is provided with full documentation and traceability. They are designed to meet the needs of customers who are developing dossiers for submission to regulatory authorities or undertaking cellular agriculture R&D focused on cultivated (cell-based) meat, fish, fat and dairy. In this sector, there is an opportunity to maximize the impact and relevance of this R&D by using future-compatible reagents.
Qkine food grade proteins are provided with extensive quality analysis, documentation and the company provides proactive support with novel food dossier preparation. Qkine food grade growth factors are manufactured in the UK under a food manufacturing HACCP regime. Full raw materials traceability, allergen analysis, CoO, CoA, beta-lactam-free and animal origin-free certification are available.
These are high purity and bioactivity growth factors from agriculturally relevant species manufactured in our scalable animal origin-free fermentation process that meet the same quality specifications as our existing growth factors. We have taken this approach as it best meets the current needs of researchers and companies optimizing cell growth and bioprocess for R&D and the transition to pilot scale. The proteins are equivalent in biochemical quality and purity to existing Qkine products for a seamless transition to the food-grade forms for existing customers.
There has been a clear steer from several regulatory bodies, including the FDA (US) and FSA (UK) that processes using human growth factors will be subject to greater scrutiny and possible labelling requirements going forward. For this reason, we are fast-tracking the development of growth factors from agriculturally relevant species through our R&D pipeline. This should help the field respond to this regulatory steer and investigate the potential for greater efficacy when using species-matched growth factors.
Opportunities for collaborative development and future perspectives on innovation
We are also collaborating with selected partners on future growth factor manufacturing and scaleup innovations to help reach cost-parity at scale, especially for the TGF beta family and complex growth factors. We’re currently gauging interest in growth factors including porcine and bovine LIF and additional species. The range of food grade growth factors and extracellular matrix attachment factors will be expanded in response to industry needs. Our established collaborative approach allows us to work with industry partners to address directly their needs and requirements – at speed! To discuss options for the collaborative development of additional species-specific, functionally engineered or proteins optimized for bulk manufacture please contact support@qkine.com.
"As the applications of stem cell science are rapidly expanding it is increasingly important that suppliers are agile and respond rapidly to ensure the science can progress at speed and in parallel make our customers’ lives easier. The launch of highly pure food grade growth factors is part of our commitment to the long-term success of cell ag – future food security & more sustainable food production. These proteins provide a unique platform for further innovation as the industry scales." Catherine Elton, CEO, Qkine.
Qkine is also committed to supporting the development of an academic research base for the cellular agriculture industry and is a strategic partner in the UK cellular manufacturing hub, CARMA, Imperial College Besoz Earth Fund and newly announced UKRI-funded National Alternative Protein Innovation Centre (NAPIC).
The National Alternative Protein Innovation Centre (NAPIC), heading up by the University of Leeds will be £38m centre dedicated to developing acceptable and planet-friendly alternatives to animal proteins. The launch of the UKRI funded center expands the capacity for research into alternative proteins. The aim of this sector is to secure a continuous supply of safe, tasty, affordable, and healthy proteins that also support Net Zero goals and futureproof the UK’s food and animal feed security. Read more
Qkine has been partnered with the £12m cellular agriculture manufacturing hub, CARMA since it’s launch in September 2023. Led by Prof Marianne Ellis at the University of Bath, the project was co-created with eleven companies, including strategic partners Qkine, Veolia and Merck, and UK-based cultivated meat companies including Hoxton Farms, 3D Bio-Tissues, Roslin Technologies, Cellular Agriculture Ltd, Ivy Farm and Quest Meat. With the mission to integrate transdisciplinary responsible approaches for novel cellular agriculture tools and technologies, into current food systems, to deliver sustainable food manufacturing in the UK and beyond. Read more
Media contact: Minnie Joy
