A Newcastle business which is pioneering the creation of lab grown leather is stepping up commercialising the product on the back of a five-figure grant.
Scientific engineers at 3D Bio-Tissues Ltd (3DBT) are seeking to revolutionise the food, fashion and healthcare markets with its IP which is creating cruelty-free meat, human corneas and animal ‘skin’ for leather goods, without the need for animals.
Two years ago the business – part of listed business BSF Enterprise – entered into a contract with a leather company to test and develop lab-grown animal skin for leather production. The firm secured a £50,000 grant from growth support programme Northern Accelerator to begin small scale manufacturing of its lab grown leather products.
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Now the firm has stepped up its activities to commercialise the lab grown leather business as part of the Northern Accelerator growth support grant.
BSF has previously launched the subsidiary - Lab-grown Leather Ltd – and together with 3DBT they are taking steps aimed at moving the technology from lab-scale to pilot plant and accelerate fundraising for its future commercialisation.
LGL has entered collaborations with third parties to carry out market research to validate high-growth opportunities and revenue streams, and to make commercial efforts with key sectors such as fashion, jewellery, and automotive. It will also develop a technology roadmap for a scalable production process and a plan for setting up a pilot plant.
Dr Che Connon, CEO and founder of 3DBT, said: “These collaborations have been developed over many months of discussions and will be critical in our launch of Lab-Grown Leather Ltd. It enables us to further accelerate the commercialization of our technology and scale up manufacturing.”
Earlier this week a watchdog indicated that lab-grown food could be sold in the 海角视频 within two years, a watchdog has indicated. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) said it was committed to completing the full safety assessment of two cell-cultivated products (CCPs) within the next two years.
The watchdog has launched a “pioneering” regulatory programme for CCPs to make sure they are safe for consumers before they are sold, funded by the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology’s Engineering Biology Sandbox Fund.