Plant molecular farming companies argue that growing recombinant proteins in crops can cut production costs by removing expensive fermentation infrastructure used to produce growth factors.
Companies like ORF Genetics and BioBetter are among a small but growing number of suppliers that are replacing costly, animal-derived or pharma-grade growth factors with plant-based recombinant alternatives. Growth factors, which are nutrient-rich liquid solutions that feed animals cells, are one of the costly components in producing cultivated meat.
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Barley could cut costs up to 100 times
Iceland-based ORF Genetics uses genetically engineered barley to manufacture animal-free proteins, such as growth factors for cultivated meat for its MESOkine portfolio, in addition to other growth factors for human cell therapy.
Traditionally, growth factors are produced in microorganisms in expensive steel tank bioreactors used for pharmaceuticals – although food grade bioreactors are gaining traction within the sector as a less costly production system.
ORF uses a “bioengineered, endotoxin-free barley seed host” for its portfolio of animal growth factors in food that is cheaper to scale than fermentation systems without steel bioreactors. While ORF did not specify cost reductions, the company’s technology reduced the cost of growth factors between 50 to 100 times in the last few years, according to ORF Genetics’ CSO Björn Örvar.
While ORF is able to scale its MESOkine portfolio for cultivated meat producers like Mosa Meat and Vow, its “main challenge is still how fast our customers can scale their production,” Örvar said.
Örvar continued: “Our production platform is easy to scale up fast and with very low CAPEX compared to traditional bioreactors. Furthermore, this platform is geared towards economy-of-scale, giving ORF Genetics the opportunity to offer dramatic cost reduction of growth factors for the cultivated meat companies.”
The company entered a commercial distribution partnership with Tebubio, a life-science distributor, in February. Through the partnership, ORF’s animal-free growth factors and cytokines, including MESOkine products are distributed via Tebubio’s channels.
Over the past 25 years, ORF raised several funding rounds, including a €5 million (roughly $5.8 million) in October 2025 to help expand its product portfolio and market development, Örvar explained.
BioBetter reduces costs to $1 per gram with tobacco growth medium
Israel-based BioBiotter’s growth factors are produced in tobacco plants as a less costly alternative for cultivated meat production, although the company has adapted its protein platform to other sectors such cosmetics and aesthetics. While growth factors typically cost tens of thousands of dollars per gram, BioBetter claims it can reduce costs to $1 per gram.
BioBetter engineers Nicotiana tabacum plants to produce growth factors connected to a cellulose-binding tag. This method allows the proteins to be secured by cheaper cellulose materials instead of expensive chromatography equipment. BioBetter says its method minimizes downstream-processing costs and could allow large-scale production of cheaper growth factors for cultivated meat.
