RCS - Agronomics Limited - Meatly Unveils Protein-Free Medium

AgronomicsAnnouncement

07/05/2024 07:15

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RNS Number : 2585N  Agronomics Limited  07 May 2024

7th May 2024

Agronomics (https://agronomics.im/) Limited (https://agronomics.im/)

("Agronomics" or the "Company")

Portfolio Company Meatly Unveils Protein-Free Medium

Agronomics (LSE: ANIC), a leading listed company focused on the field of
cellular agriculture, is pleased to announce that portfolio company Good Dog
Food Limited trading as Meatly ("Meatly") has achieved a significant milestone
in developing a protein-free culture medium costing only one pound per litre.

Culture medium is an essential element in the production of cultivated meat,
providing cells with the nutrients required for in vitro viability and
proliferation. Although animal cell culture is routinely performed in academic
labs, creating the amount of biomass required for commercial scale and price
points demands significant cost reductions and innovations for the replacement
of certain medium component
(https://gfi.org/science/the-science-of-cultivated-meat/deep-dive-cultivated-meat-cell-culture-media/)
s
(https://gfi.org/science/the-science-of-cultivated-meat/deep-dive-cultivated-meat-cell-culture-media/)
such as fetal bovine serum and albumin. Medium costs account for a significant
portion of the costs of producing cultivated meat and reducing them is a
well-known hurdle the industry faces as it looks to scale up and achieve price
parity with conventional meat products.

Agronomics' team has observed that medium prices vary substantially between
companies and in some cases are still at levels exceeding hundreds of pounds
per litre, making industrial production economically unviable. However,
Meatly's new medium contains no serum, animal-derived components, steroids,
hormones, growth factors, or antibiotics, and is used in their suspension
culture bioreactors without micro-carriers. The absence of these expensive
proteins, such as transferrin and insulin, as well as growth factors and
micro-carriers, means the production of Meatly's protein-free culture medium
at an industrial scale is economically viable - at the price of one pound a
litre. Meatly believes further cost reduction will be possible when higher
volumes of the medium are purchased.

Helder Cruz, Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer at Meatly, said:

"Our protein-free culture medium represents a critical milestone for us and
the wider cultivated meat industry. By setting this new benchmark, we are
driving the cost of production down significantly, which is something the
industry has been grappling with for years and is a huge step forward in
scaling our technology and making our products available to pet owners at an
affordable price and on a commercial scale."

Jim Mellon, Founder of Agronomics, an investor in Meatly, added:

"Meatly's creation of the very first protein-free medium establishes the
company as a true technological leader within its field. Medium accounts for
the majority of the costs involved in the production of cultivated meat and
Meatly has single-handedly slashed those costs a hundredfold or more. This is
a huge step forward in bringing the cost of cultivated meat to price-parity
with conventional meat and, ultimately, toward the mass adoption of cultivated
products. The company expects to shortly receive regulatory approval, and I am
excited to feed their delicious product to my dogs."

Looking ahead, Meatly is gearing up for the release of its product in the
coming months, backed by investors such as Pets at Home and Agronomics. In
March, Meatly announced the production of the world's first cans of cultivated
pet food
(https://www.petfoodindustry.com/sustainable-dog-and-cat-food/news/15666561/meatly-creates-first-cultivatedmeat-cat-food)
, which it aims to sell in the UK this year, becoming the first company to
sell cultivated meat in Europe.

With achievements realised on a budget of £3.6 million over a period of
approximately 18 months, the company's trajectory is a hugely positive
indication for the industry at large as it looks to commercialise and realise
the ethical and environmental benefits cultivated meat can provide.

About Meatly

Meatly (previously known as Good Dog Food) was founded in 2022 by CEO Owen
Ensor and CSO Dr Helder Cruz with backing from investor Agronomics. The
company produces ethical and sustainable cultivated meat products without
compromising on essential nutritional benefits. Their current focus is on the
pet food market.

About Agronomics

Agronomics is a leading listed alternative proteins company with a focus on
cellular agriculture including precision fermentation and cultivated meat. The
Company has established a portfolio of over 20 companies in this rapidly
advancing sector. It seeks to secure minority stakes in companies owning
technologies with defensible intellectual property that offer new ways of
producing food and materials with a focus on products historically derived
from animals. These technologies are driving a major disruption in
agriculture, offering solutions to improve sustainability, as well as
addressing human health, animal welfare and environmental damage. This
disruption will decouple supply chains from the environment and animals, as
well as being fundamental to feeding the world's expanding population. A full
list of Agronomics' portfolio companies is available at https://agronomics.im/
(https://www.agronomics.im/) .

For further information please contact:

 Agronomics           Beaumont              Canaccord Genuity Limited  Cavendish Capital Markets Limited  Peterhouse Capital    SEC Newgate

 Limited              Cornish Limited                                                                     Limited
 The Company          Nomad                 Joint Broker               Joint Broker                       Joint Broker          Public Relations
 Jim Mellon           Roland Cornish        Andrew Potts               Giles Balleny                      Lucy Williams         Bob Huxford

 Anthony Hughes
 Denham Eke           James Biddle          Harry Pardoe               Michael Johnson                    Charles Goodfellow

                                            Alex Aylen                 Charlie Combe
 +44 (0) 1624 639396  +44 (0) 207 628 3396  +44 (0) 207 523 8000       +44 (0) 207 397 8900               +44 (0) 207 469 0936  agronomics@secnewgate.co.uk

 info@agronomics.im

 

 

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