The Technology (detailed)

Newform Foods is currently at a TRL level between 4-5, having successfully achieved multiple muscle tissue prototypes from beef and lamb cells. Their cultivated meat prototypes have received positive feedback on sensory attributes by evaluators.

The company has driven their media cost down from $28 per liter to just $0.50 per liter - a 98% reduction. This was achieved by developing an optimized in-house bulk basal medium performing on par with commercial alternatives. Newform’s current media formulations enable cost-efficient exponential cell growth without animal-derived components.

Their facility contains 100 liters of bioreactor capacity - the largest cultivated meat-focused system on the African continent. Newform’s bioreactors have been customized using a novel refurbishment technique allowing 1/20th the cost of off-the-shelf options. Ongoing efforts center on transitioning from R&D into robust and repeatable pilot-scale systems in anticipation of future scale up needs.

Safeguarding innovations is paramount for Newform Foods. Currently, they are treating advanced technologies as trade secrets to ensure confidentiality during development.

Looking ahead, Newform plans to file patents around its most differentiated intellectual property as operations expand into the UK. Areas earmarked for potential patenting include:

Registering these anticipated patents under their new global headquarters will maximize value for future licensing deals or external investment opportunities.

Newform Foods has established a biobank with cell samples spanning three species - beef, pork and lamb. Their scientists have already prototyped products from both beef and lamb cell lines using a proprietary rapid replication process.

Ongoing efforts focus on adapting lines for growth in suspension-based bioreactors to improve yields. The immortalization methods employed utilize non-GMO techniques in line with European regulatory standards.

By year’s end, Newform anticipates having cell lines from 5 additional species in inventory ready for product prototyping. Expanding their cell library diversity further builds on the flexible and modular nature of their overall bio-manufacturing platform strengths.

Newform Foods produces customized media formulations in-house to provide optimized nutrient conditions matching their tailored beef, pork and lamb cell strains. Their basal medium matches performance of the top commercial preparations at just $0.50/liter - vastly cheaper.

Ongoing efforts center on removing reliance on fetal bovine serum during cell proliferation. By adapting lines to grow in suspension, FBS requirements can be eliminated to remove this $85/liter variable cost component currently comprising a substantial portion of overall media expenses.

In total, their projected media expenditure including growth factors and micronutrients totals $1.46 per liter at scale. Given media accounts for up to 70% of cultivated meat production costs, Newform’s proprietary formulations provide decisive advantages.

Newform Foods has 100 liters of overall bioreactor capacity for cultivating meat cell biomass - the largest on the African continent currently. Their expertise lies in refurbishing and optimizing modular off-the-shelf systems to deliver custom functionality at 20x cost reductions compared to traditional alternatives.

Ongoing efforts center on enhancing this flexible bioprocessing platform to facilitate easy tech transfer. Leanness of design will allow food producer partners to integrate and operate bioreactors in-house more seamlessly as part of licensing agreements.

Standardization of controls and automation likewise paves the way for minimizing contamination risks and variability during scale-up. As production volumes grow, the simplicity and reliability of Newform’s bioprocessing backbone will prove essential.

The cornerstone of Newform Foods’ approach lies in pragmatic and modular bioreactor systems providing clients flexibility matched to precise business requirements. Their apparatus enable plug-and-play integration of customizable bio-manufacturing capacity spanning small R&D trials through to mid-scale batch prototyping and ultimately mass-production.

Newform’s nimble architecture allows food brands to test ideas without intensive capital investment upfront. The streamlined process facilitates rapid trial-and-error iteration leveraging interchangeable component containers tailored to unique product concepts. By lowering barriers to experimentation, transformative sustainable food solutions can unfold faster than the status quo.

This emphasis on intuitiveness likewise enables simplified tech transfer and operation for clients licensing Newform’s end-to-end cultivation process. Their models strive for efficiency gains surmounting incumbent systems while retaining ease-of-use - accelerating access for pioneers in the budding realms of cell-based meat, dairy and seafood.