IntegriCulture Hosts 3rd CulNet Consortium Steering Committee Meeting

Tokyo, Japan, December 18, 2023 - IntegriCulture Inc., a pioneer in cellular agriculture infrastructure, proudly announces its successful hosting of the 2023 steering committee meeting of the CulNet® Consortium, our dynamic open innovation platform dedicated to cellular agriculture. The event witnessed active participation from all 14 consortium member companies, sharing progress in research and development, and presented a comprehensive overview of the current status of the cellular food industry.

Highlighting a notable research outcome, IntegriCulture showcased “I-MEM 2.0,” a food grade basal medium developed in collaboration with JT and Tablemark. This innovative medium minimizes the use of highly refined materials, exemplifying the consortium’s commitment to advancing sustainable and efficient cellular agriculture. Other advancements discussed encompassed food-grade scaffolds, low-cost bioreactors, highly efficient culture bags, antibiotic alternatives, and nutritional supply substrates. The consortium collectively affirmed the developmental stage of food-grade and other outcomes for cellular products.

In response to these significant outcomes, IntegriCulture is poised to introduce a revolutionary service named “Ocatté Base” (Open Cellular Agriculture Technology Transfer Ecosystem), a pioneering cellular agriculture supply chain infrastructure. The platform’s inaugural initiative involves the world’s first offer of a full-stack package of food-grade materials and equipment for cell culture that is crucial for development of celllar agriculture food products. The “Ocatté Base” serves all stakeholders of cellular agriculture as a hub for research, & development, verification & validation, and business development that follows. IntegriCulture positions this service as a pivotal element in building an inclusive infrastructure of democratized cellular agriculture in Japan and beyond.

Yuki Hanyu, CEO of Integriculture Inc., commented, “To unlock the promised potential of cellular agriculture, we need to bring together a diverse set of knowledge that cannot be achieved by a single company. So, we create an entire supply chain through partnerships to lead the way. Our sincere appreciation goes out to all participating companies in the CulNet consortium.”

About the CulNet System:

The CulNet system is a versatile, large-scale cell culture platform technology capable of producing a wide range of cell-cultured products, such as cultivated meat and leather. The patented technology mimics the intercellular interactions occurring in natural animal bodies, enabling the cost-effective large-scale cultivation of any animal cells. The applications of this technology extend beyond cell-cultured meat to include extracts and materials for cosmetics. IntegriCulture has successfully demonstrated, at a laboratory scale, the automated culture of various cell types and production of serum components. The company has significantly reduced the cost of cell culture by eliminating the use of costly fetal bovine serum and growth factors, replacing them with cultured serum internally produced by co-cultured cells.

About the CulNet Consortium:

Established in April 2021, the CulNet Consortium is an open innovation platform for cellular agriculture, with 14 participating companies, including IntegriCulture, the founding organizer. While cellular agriculture products like cell-cultured meat have garnered attention for simulating the “real thing” better than plant-based substitutes, the industry faces challenges in reducing production costs, confirming safety, and developing practical manufacturing plants for commercial production. The CulNet Consortium consists of companies with high technological capabilities in various fields, including media, cultivation, and equipment, collaboratively overcoming barriers through open innovation.

For more information, visit: https://integriculture.com/product/

Participating companies:
In alphabetical order: IntegriCulture Inc. A Laboratories LLC, Asahi Kasei Co., DAIDAN Co., Daiwa Can Co., Ebara Co., Hamano Products Co., Japan Tobacco Inc., San-Ei Gen F.F.I., Inc., Sumitomo Riko Co., TAIYO NIPPON SANSO Co., and three additional unnamed companies as of December 18, 2023.

About IntegriCulture Inc.:

IntegriCulture Inc. takes the proprietary cell-type and species agnostic “CulNet® system"technology to a biomanufacturing infrastructure for applications such as food, cosmetics, ingredients and materials. Our pilot scale effort has already achieved the production of serum components, which have historically been a costly component in cell culture. This achievement eliminates the need for expensive inputs such as fetal bovine serum (FBS), insulin, transferrin and growth factors, resulting in significant cost savings in cellular agriculture and its supply chain management. Our goal is to create a future with a universally accessible infrastructure of cellular agriculture utilized by entities of different sizes and sectors.

For more information, visit: https://integriculture.com