Dutch startup Meatable has acquired the cultivated meat platform of UK-based Uncommon Bio, including key technology, several IP assets, select cell lines, and key staff, for an undisclosed sum.
The move comes as Uncommon Bio pivots away from food, with a message on its website explaining that it has set up a “stealth spin-out in therapeutics” and is looking for scientists to support its new direction, beginning with targeting lung diseases such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
“Uncommon Bio [formerly known as Higher Steaks] began with cell-based meat and pioneered RNA delivery innovations, which evolved into their most recent spin out which is focusing on changing medicine through multi-targeting,” says a job posting on the site. “Their polysaccharide-based delivery platform enables multi-pathway cell programming, offering a safe, efficient and scalable alternative to multi-target therapies.”
After the strategic pivot, “we wanted to find the best home for our technology and it’s exciting to see Meatable carry our work forward and apply it at scale,” said founder Benjamina Bollag.
Meatable: ‘For us, the major attraction is a diversification across possible GMO and non-GMO product lines’
Meatable and Uncommon have both developed tech claimed to speed up the process by which stem cells differentiate into fat and muscle, but Uncommon’s approach is not considered by regulators to create GMOs, Meatable director of comms Bo de Koning told AgFunderNews.
“For us, the major attraction is a diversification across possible GMO and non-GMO product lines, where in the past we only had the GMO option.
“We know from conversations with meat companies that speed to market is essential in the current space, and we also know that is easier to do with a non-GMO product as there are usually fewer regulatory bodies involved. While our core business will remain focused on pork and beef for some time, we have also noticed an uptick in demand for other species like chicken and lamb, for which Uncommon’s technique will be particularly interesting.”
She added: “We still believe opti-ox [Meatable’s patented cell differentiation tech] is a very powerful technology, but believe it will strengthen the business to be able to have another technique / product line available next to our existing technique.”
Acquisition accelerates moves into new species
According to a patent filed in 2021 Uncommon has developed a process using mRNA—molecules that contain the chemical instructions that direct cells to produce proteins—to trigger pluripotent stem cells to differentiate into fat and muscle cells.
The approach could speed up the differentiation process and lower media costs by lowering the amount of costly proteins needed to trigger stem cells to differentiate, suggests the patent filing: “RNA transfection may also facilitate rapid differentiation and cell development.”
Notably, the nucleic acid molecules are “not integrated into a genome” of the cells and do not alter their DNA, which means the tech is considered non-GMO, Bollag told AgFunderNews after raising a $30 million Series A round in 2023.
“We can get from pluripotent stem cells to mature muscle markers and multi-nucleation in three days without using gene editing.”
Uncommon Bio’s tech “accelerates product development for chicken, lamb, and high-flavor breeds, while its non-GMO status and regulatory ready dossier support faster regulatory approval in multiple regions,” said Meatable, which aims to “supply additional meat to the meat industry on a global level efficiently, at scale, without any risk of livestock disease.”
Further reading:
Clever Carnivore’s pragmatic path to cultivated meat profitability, starting with $0.07/liter media
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