CellRx

Based in the UK, CellRx is a manufacturer and supplier of an animal-free growth factor additive “Short-AE-IGF-1” produced using a strain of E.coli and a proprietary fermentation process for use in research, bioprocessing, and large-scale commercial cell-culture. “Short AE-IGF-1” (herein Short IGF 1) is the company’s first commercialized product. The company also offers microbial fermentation services (up to 2000 liters) using its technology and bioprocess optimization services including, process flow, unit operation selection and optimization, upstream and downstream process scale up and optimization, and cell bank establishment, maintenance, and validation.

CellRx’s Short IGF 1 claims to be 100x more potent than insulin and matches or outperforms other alternative growth factors such as IGF-1, Long-R3-IGF-1 with higher recombinant protein production, reduced cell death, and higher cell density. Short IGF 1 also comes in a liquid form which is reportedly more stable and can be directly added into cell culture media, whereas the conventional growth factors come in a powder format that needs to be transformed back into a liquid, increasing the risk of influencing pH and presence of chemicals in cell culture. Short-AE-IGF-1 is priced at USD 8,000 per 0.5g whereas Long-R3-IGF-1 and insulin are priced at USD 25,000 per 0.5g and USD 17,000 per 50g respectively.

Key customers and partnerships

As of March 2022, The company offers its Short IGF 1 for laboratory research and large-scale in vitro biopharmaceutical manufacturing use only and has signed NDAs with cultivated meat players for producing customized growth factors. The company also noted that the cost of growth factors has to be reduced further to enable large-scale cell-culture meat production and that it may have to modify its business model for producing growth factors for cultivated meat producers.