Cultivated meat (also known as slaughter-free, lab-grown, or cell-based meat) is made from cells using in vitro culture methods. It is a promising alternative meat source for consumers who want to be more environmentally (and possibly also ethically) responsible, but do not want to modify their diet.
This technology is already a commercial reality, with the world's first cell-cultured meat sold in December 2020 at the Singapore restaurant 1880, serving cultivated meat manufactured by the US firm Eat Just.
Cultivated meat production is based on many of the tissue engineering techniques originally developed for regenerative medicine. The production process merges essential technologies including in vitro cultivated animal cells/tissue, specialised growth media and 3D culturing scaffolds with tissue engineering and processing methods. Of course, food technology methods also play a role.
Questions remain about whether cultivated meat can ever be an affordable alternative to animal-sourced meat, not least due to high scale-up costs. However, innovation in the area is only just getting started.
Even though cost-competitive production processes are still in early development, innovation in this area is accelerating, driven largely by consumer demand. In recent years, a new wave of customer-facing companies has emerged, combining various technologies to create a viable mainstream product.
Global patent activity
While patent filing numbers are still relatively low, the number of new cultivated meat patent applications has grown exponentially since 2019. Yet there is still clearly huge potential for much higher levels of growth.
Figure 1: Ten-year trend: global priority filings – cultivated meat innovations
The US has consistently been the highest patent filer in this technology area. However, South Korea has been increasing the filing rate and next year may overtake the US as the dominant filer in this sector.
In late 2020, the Singapore Food Agency made history by approving the sale of lab-grown meat, with South Korea predicted to follow suit in the near future. The South Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety wants to speed up implementation of official guidance for alternative proteins for the South Korean National Action Plan 2022. It may be that South Korean-based companies are establishing a foothold in this sector in anticipation of government approval.
Figure 2: Ten-year trend: global priority filings, by jurisdiction – cultivated meat innovations
Types of application
Patent applications related to cultivated meat commonly focus on one or more technology areas:
- Methods for production of a cultivated meat, e.g., all or part of the process from cell to meat product
- Genetically edited cell lines
- Apparatus such as bioreactors, increasingly adapted for large scale/mass production and filtration equipment
- 3D scaffolds, especially relating to edible scaffolds
- Culture media – in particular, for improving cell proliferation during culture and for reducing the cost of expensive components, for example, serum replacement
- Animal-type specific innovations, e.g., cattle, pigs, sheep, rabbits, poultry, game species, aquatic species, etc.
Notable companies
Given the industry’s promising future, it is unsurprising that the number of unique patent applicants has increased rapidly over the past two years as companies seek to enter the current swathes of ‘white space’ and try to establish early market share in this technology. That said, a few start-up companies are currently ahead in terms of patent filings, notably, Upside Foods and Aleph Farms.
Figure 3: Ten-year trend: unique assignees by year – cultivated meat innovations
The highest filer in 2020 was a new entrant – a Korean-based establishment, the University of Yonsei, with many innovations for cell sheet coating technology, as well as culture media.
US institution Tufts College is another new entry among the top five filers. Tuft’s innovation relates to culture media and growth factors.
The addition of Yonsei and Tufts means that many of the highest filers are universities, unsurprisingly at the early stages of a new, highly technical sector. Many of the early start-up companies in this sector are university spinouts, such as Ivy Farm from Oxford University.
These findings build on last year’s report, where the most highly forward cited (i.e., cited as prior art against later patent applications) applicant was Upside Foods in California. Upside Foods’ patent applications, developed in part with support from the US National Institute of Health, largely focus on genetic modification of the cell lines and manipulating cell expression.
Another relatively high filer highlighted in last year’s report was Yissum, the technology transfer company of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Yissum has focused its portfolio on the apparatus, systems, and culture medium/growth factor areas of the field to bring down the cost of production. It exclusively licences its portfolio to start-up biotechnology company Future Meat Tech Limited.
Yissum and Upside Food complete the current top five highest filers with Aleph Farms, The University of Yonsei, and Tufts College.
Figure 4: Filing activity 2010-2020: top filers - cultivated meat
Implications for innovation and future patent filings
Patent filings (and likely innovation) in this area of tissue engineering are still at the early stages. But it is clear from the patent applications of the current portfolio leaders and new filers, that the range of possible innovation is very broad. It will be incredibly exciting to watch this field develop as innovations, both iterative and ground-breaking, emerge across the spectrum.
Cultivated meat clearly could revolutionise protein production but remains at an embryonic stage while the initial wave of consumer product manufacturers battle for market and IP position. The pressure, not least from investors, continues to show that cultivated meat can become a mass-market product – not just marginal or high-end – capable of competing with animal meat.
The mass-market implementation of this technology may appear distant, partly because of significant, technical production obstacles, and pending regulatory approvals. However, when developing novel, cutting-edge technology, this perception is common. A route, though complex and difficult to see, may still exist. Promisingly, we are starting to see regulatory bodies considering the approval of this technology for human consumption, and will hopefully see the implementation of guidelines in the near future, further providing confidence and viability for investors.
Once innovators prove cultivated meat products are commercially viable and establish a market, this will lead to further refinement, development, and patenting of products based on, for example, improved texture, taste, appearance, etc. This will most likely lead to further adaption of the genetics, base media, and equipment, but also the development of new auxiliary components, equipment, and processing techniques. There are numerous precedents in the food industry for protecting such properties, and even more so in a high-technology industry like this.
Where patent applications for cultivated meat are predicated on previous tissue engineering innovations, there may be freedom to operate (FTO) and licensing considerations. There may also be opportunities to patent the iterative as well as ground-breaking developments that emerge.
A related area to watch is lab-grown dairy. The dairy alternatives market is among the fastest growing markets of all packaged foods. Hailed as the future of milk, lab-grown dairy involves the reproduction of the proteins in curds (casein) and whey artificially in the lab. It will be interesting to watch this space.
Chris Mason Partner
Emily Bevan-Smith Trainee Patent Attorney