Mewery Meat, a Czech-based producer of cultivated pork using proprietary “cultivator” bioreactors and microalgae-based growth media, claimed it has proven the feasibility of its microalgae-based growth medium for growing mammalian cells without the use of fetal bovine serum (FBS).

The company conducted several tests in differing environments and has obtained proof of concept, and expects to have the first samples and a prototype by the end of the year.

Using an FBS-free growth medium has been the company’s strategy from the start and claims to be the first European startup to use a microalgae-based growth medium. Further, according to the company, using non-FBS methods can lead to a reduction of costs by 70% compared to conventional FBS methods.

Analyst QuickTake: FBS is one of the most controversial parts of the manufacturing process of cell-cultured meat as it is blood sourced from the fetus of pregnant cows that were slaughtered. Discovering a growth medium substitute to FBS is a key challenge for commercialization due to the high price tag it carries. Several companies such as Future Meat Technologies , BioBetter , and Mermade have already developed substitutes for FBS in order to narrow the price gap between cell-cultured meat and traditional meat.