Immobazyme, a biotech company, partnered with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in 2023 to significantly reduce the production cost of Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 (FGF-2). This protein is a critical input for the cultivated meat industry, signaling mammalian cells to grow. The collaboration made FGF-2 commercially viable, drastically cutting its price from approximately US$1 million per gram to between R10,000 and R20,000 per gram. Despite this advance, the cultivated meat sector faces significant hurdles, including challenges in scaling cell production, high overall costs, complex regulatory approvals, and consumer skepticism. The market remains small, and experts do not foresee cultivated meat disrupting traditional livestock farming for decades, suggesting potential co-existence and new opportunities for farmers.
Source: Breakthrough for lab-grown meat – but it’s no threat to livestock farming