Biotech company 3D Bio-Tissues (3DBT) has been acquired by London’s BSF Enterprise for £1.25 million. 3DBT is working towards producing what it claims will be the UK’s first cultivated meat cut within the next year.
The company, which is a spinoff from the University of Newcastle, has a focus on tissue engineering — its tissue templating platform can be used to produce cultivated meat and leather, along with human tissues. Additionally, 3DBT has developed an animal-free cell growth medium that can be used to produce cultivated muscle, fat, and skin tissue. Prior to the acquisition, the company received funding from Canada’s CULT Food Science, an investment platform with a focus on cultivated alt-protein products.
Cultivated meat in the UK
While cultivated meat research in the UK is not as advanced as in some countries such as Israel, there are a growing number of companies working to change this. Ivy Farm has said it intends to launch cultivated meat commercially with its sausage products by 2023, while another Newcastle University spinoff, CelluaREvolution, has developed new bioreactor technology for cultivated meat production.
Additionally, 34% of UK consumers now say they would be willing to try cultivated meat, and even the conventional meat industry is conducting research to find out whether cultivated products could provide an opportunity rather than a threat.
“Our successful acquisition of 3DBT provides investors with exposure to an extremely exciting suite of IP which can be used for multiple applications across numerous fast-growing and transformative markets, including the lab-grown meat and leather markets, as well as skincare,” said Geoff Baker, Executive Director of BSF.
