The North East firm pioneering cruelty-free meat and leather says it has no intention of slowing, following a busy trading period which has seen it double lab space.
Newcastle based 3D Bio-Tissues has previously told how it is on the cusp of revolutionising food, fashion and healthcare markets with its patent-protected IP which has already created cruelty-free meat, human corneas and skin that could eventually be used to create leather. The company is owned by BSF Enterprise PLC which is listed on the main London Stock Market, and has issued interim results for the six months to March 31 highlighting a range of activities, including how it produced three small prototype fillets of meat last November as well as the UK’s first full-sized lab cultivated meat fillet in February.
3D Bio-Tissues also doubled lab space to 2,400 square feet and increased production capacity to 2,500 litres of its City-Mix supplement a year, its product which removes the need for the use of animal serum which is a byproduct of the agricultural processes. It has also engaged with over 70 cellular agriculture companies with 26 progressing to business opportunities.
Read more: 3D Bio Tissues welcomes US move to approve cultivated meat sale
A partnership with QKine – a Cambridge supplier of proteins for stem cell science – is also working to combine technologies to accelerate the creation of affordable cultivated meat, and a partnership with New Harvest is looking to accelerate routes to market. Meanwhile, it has signed distribution partners covering Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand and Fiji.
Che Connon, managing director of BSF Enterprise and CEO at 3D Bio Tissues, said the firm’s activity has ramped up since the end of March. He said: “Activity has continued apace since the end of the period and we have no intention of slowing, given the many opportunities available to us and the huge global potential for our innovative technology. We have a strong balance sheet which will support our well-defined growth strategy and we look forward to updating the market on future successes.”
Following the end of the six months 3D Bio-Tissues raised £2.9m in an oversubscribed placing and currently has a cash balance of £2.7m. Notably, it has also produced two full-sized fillets and a strip of pork which were tested at a technical event, as well as cultivated skin to the thickness of leather. It has also signed its first contract with a company in the leather industry while engaging with many more. BSF Enterprise PLC was also admitted to trading on the OTCQB exchange in the US.
Mr Connon added: “The period under review has been one of significant progress on both technical and commercial fronts. Technical milestones have included us producing the UK’s first 100% cultivated steak, an enormous step forward for our industry, as well as skin products thick enough to be used to make leather goods. Commercial progress has been demonstrated through numerous partnerships and proof-of-concepts as well as the signing of our first contracts, while expanding our sales channels both direct and indirect.”
