Multus launches food-grade basal media to support scalable cultivated meat production

Multus Biotechnology has announced the launch of its new food-grade basal media, DMEM/F12-FG, aimed at providing cultivated meat producers with a scalable and regulatory-compliant solution. Developed in collaboration with several global food and feed ingredient companies, the formulation is optimized for food-grade use and designed to meet the evolving needs of cellular agriculture.

The London-based company used artificial intelligence to identify food industry ingredients that are functionally equivalent to those typically found in biopharmaceutical-grade media. This approach has helped ensure the new media supports robust cell growth while keeping costs down and enabling large-scale production.

“Basal media is a critical component of cultivated meat production, but traditional versions weren’t developed with this industry in mind,” commented Cai Linton, Co-founder & CEO of Multus. “The launch of our food-grade DMEM/F12 basal media marks an important milestone in supporting cultivated meat companies as they strive towards commercialization.”

Launching this May, DMEM/F12-FG includes essential components such as sugars, salts, vitamins, and minerals. These nutrients are necessary to support optimal cell growth, but unlike many existing media products, Multus’ formulation complies with food-grade regulatory standards. The company is offering fully transparent performance data alongside the product, allowing cultivated meat companies to evaluate its suitability for their specific processes with confidence.

According to Multus, integrating real-world data and AI into the development pipeline has not only streamlined ingredient selection but also allowed the company to optimize the media’s formulation for consistent results. This reduces development cycles for cultivated meat producers and enables them to move more quickly toward commercial readiness.

Backing from global partners has also played a critical role in ensuring the scalability of the new product. Multus has worked closely with co-manufacturers and food-grade ingredient suppliers to establish a reliable supply chain that can support both small and large-scale production. The company says these partnerships bring operational expertise and supply chain resilience that cultivated meat companies can depend on.

“To scale this industry, cultivated meat needs more than just innovation – it needs infrastructure and dependable inputs,” said Linton. “With the support of global food and feed ingredient companies, we’re delivering a solution that combines the reality of an industry-standard formulation with the affordability and scalability needed for real-world production.”

Multus is initially offering 500 milliliter and 1 liter bottles of DMEM/F12-FG from its FSSC22000-certified manufacturing facility for immediate testing. This allows cultivated meat producers, as well as academic research teams, to trial the media under their own conditions and assess its impact on cell growth and viability.

The launch of DMEM/F12-FG further supports Multus’ broader mission to accelerate the adoption of cultivated meat by making key production inputs accessible and affordable. By delivering high-performance, food-grade media at scale, the company aims to help cultivated meat companies overcome one of the major technical and economic challenges on the road to commercialization.