INTRODUCTION

Cell culture supplier ProFuse Technology has developed muscle-cell supplements and a bovine cell line with EU support. The work matters because cell performance and culture media remain large barriers to affordable cultivated meat.

Green Queen reported on 28 August 2026 that ProFuse completed a project supported by €2.4 million from the European Innovation Council. ProFuse says its tools can hasten muscle maturation and improve yield. The company has also extended its research towards muscle loss linked with GLP-1 drugs. That medical use remains an ambition rather than a demonstrated outcome.

Two other developments show how suppliers are approaching the same production constraints. Vegconomist reported on 18 August 2026 that cultivated protein platform Ever After Foods acquired aquatic biotechnology company Fishway. Vegconomist then reported on 26 August 2026 that University of Queensland researchers used microalgae to recycle spent culture media. One project improves cells and supplements. Another combines aquatic biology with manufacturing. The third recovers nutrients from waste. Together, they point towards integrated production systems rather than a single decisive fix.

CORE FINDING

ProFuse’s core result is a set of inputs intended to make muscle tissue grow and mature more effectively. Green Queen reports that the project covered cell lines, cultivation methods, artificial intelligence analysis and supplements added to nutrient media. The work produced ProFuse-S1, which supports the transition from immature muscle cells to mature fibres. Those fibres provide much of meat’s structure, texture and protein. ProFuse then developed ProFuse S-2 for tests in three-dimensional settings. Guy Nevo Michrowski, the project coordinator, told Green Queen that the later work aimed to move beyond flat laboratory surfaces. The company wanted conditions closer to factory production and the structure of a steak. The supplied evidence does not establish that either product has reached commercial-scale operation.

ProFuse chose myoblasts as its starting cells, according to Green Queen. Myoblasts are precursors that develop into muscle. Some producers instead work with fibroblasts, which precede connective tissue, or embryonic stem cells to reproduce features associated with meat. ProFuse’s narrower focus reflects its expertise in muscle formation. The company also created a non-genetically modified bovine muscle cell line for cultivated beef developers. Its stated aim is to provide a dependable source that can expand at scale. That is a company objective, not proof that the line already meets industrial output, cost or regulatory requirements.

The bovine line and supplements address different stages of the process. A producer first needs cells that can grow consistently. It must then turn enough of those cells into mature tissue with the required function. Green Queen reports that ProFuse adapted its B8 line for growth in media containing serum. The company also assessed whether those cells could form muscle on structures designed to support tissue development. Such structures help organise cells in three dimensions. The tests therefore move beyond simple cell multiplication, but Green Queen gives no production volume, maturation rate or cost for the B8 work.

ProFuse tested its supplement with cultivated meat producer SuperMeat, according to Green Queen. SuperMeat observed faster maturation, time savings and higher muscle yield in its production process. ProFuse and SuperMeat say those gains reduced production cost per kilogram. Neither company supplied the size of the saving, the test scale or a comparison with conventional meat. An unnamed Dutch company separately tested the bovine line. ProFuse says the first stage showed that the cells could adapt to the customer’s process. Future integration depends on the companies aligning their production schedules. The absence of a named partner and quantified results limits what that test can prove.

COSTS AND PERFORMANCE

The European Innovation Council project ran for two years with €2.4 million in support, according to Green Queen. It followed SuperFusion, an earlier European Research Council initiative on inducing muscle-fibre formation for industrial meat production. The later programme did more than fund laboratory work. Green Queen reports that it helped ProFuse prepare licensing models, assemble safety material for customers’ regulatory submissions and identify possible suppliers and partners. It also started proof-of-concept studies intended to show prospective customers where they might save time and money. Those commercial preparations matter, but a safety dossier supplied to a customer is not the same as regulatory clearance for a food product.

ProFuse identifies cost parity, scale and sensory quality as the three main barriers facing cultivated meat, according to Michrowski’s comments to Green Queen. Its products address only parts of that list. Faster maturation could shorten production cycles. Higher yields could spread operating costs across more tissue. A stable cell source could reduce development work for customers. None of those steps directly proves taste or consumer acceptance. ProFuse forecasts a cultivated meat market worth €22 billion by 2050, according to Green Queen. That forecast expresses the company’s commercial case. The sources provide no independent market estimate against which to test it.

The University of Queensland study puts the media problem into sharper numerical context. Food Research International reports that growth media can represent 55% to 95% of cultivated meat’s final cost. The journal attributes much of that expense to foetal bovine serum and amino acids. Foetal bovine serum can cost as much as US$1,700 per litre, according to the study reported by Vegconomist. Even the bottom of the reported range makes media more than half of final cost. A supplement that improves maturation can reduce the amount of time cells require feeding. Recycling the feed itself attacks the expense from another direction.

The Queensland team reported 40% more cell proliferation than its standard conditions while using half the normal amount of expensive media ingredients, according to Food Research International. Melanie Oey’s team calculated that the approach could cut media costs by 60% to 90%, Vegconomist reports. Those figures are estimates from a feasibility study, not audited factory savings. The experiment used spent liquid supplied by cultivated meat producer Magic Valley. The researchers also generated more algae than the recycling loop needed. Food Research International suggests that the surplus could provide another source of revenue, although the supplied report gives no price, buyer or processing cost.

MECHANISMS

ProFuse’s supplements work at the differentiation stage. Cells first multiply, then change into specialised tissue. Green Queen reports that ProFuse-S1 helps young muscle cells become mature fibres more quickly and efficiently. ProFuse S-2 extends that approach into a three-dimensional model. The distinction matters because rapid proliferation alone does not create the organised muscle associated with meat. ProFuse’s tests on support structures add another requirement: cells must attach, develop and form tissue in a physical arrangement. The company’s work therefore links cell biology with the architecture of the final product. Green Queen provides no sensory testing to show whether the resulting tissue reproduces meat’s flavour or bite.

The Queensland process recovers value after cells have already used their media. Oey’s group grew microalgae in spent liquid from Magic Valley, according to Vegconomist. The algae absorbed nutrients left behind by the meat cells. They also produced oxygen that the animal cells could use. The animal cells released carbon dioxide, which supported the algae. Researchers then harvested and processed the algal biomass into a protein-rich ingredient. Food Research International reports that this material replaced part of the serum and amino acids normally added to fresh media. The system therefore combines waste treatment, gas exchange and ingredient production in one loop.

Ever After Foods is taking an acquisition route rather than developing every component internally. Vegconomist reports that the company bought Fishway after an earlier collaboration tested whether their technologies worked together. Fishway contributes aquatic cell lines and knowledge of media without animal components. Ever After Foods contributes a platform combining biology, media, bioprocess design and production technology. Fishway will operate as the buyer’s European centre for aquatic cell biology and media development in Belgium. The transaction gives the Israeli company a scientific base in Europe and adds fish cultivation to a platform previously centred on other cultivated proteins.

PLATFORM BUILDING

Ever After Foods is majority-owned by cell technology company Pluri, which created the business under the earlier name Plurinuva, according to Vegconomist. The company adopted its current name in 2023, Vegconomist reports. Israeli food producer Tnuva also backs the business. Ever After Foods licenses Pluri’s three-dimensional cell expansion technology. Those rights expanded to seafood in 2024, according to Vegconomist. Fishway brings the cell biology needed to use that production capacity across aquatic species. The acquisition thus joins a manufacturing method with specialised cells and media rather than adding another consumer brand.

The deal came with a further US$2 million investment through a simple agreement for future equity, according to Vegconomist. The companies say that funding will support platform development and commercialisation. Pluri owns about 69% of Ever After Foods, Vegconomist reports. Pluri also operates across regenerative medicine, longevity and food technology. In early 2025, it partnered with manufacturing technology company Bühler to work on cultivated meat production systems, according to Vegconomist. These links broaden the technical base behind Ever After Foods, but the report gives no acquisition price for Fishway or timetable for revenue.

Ever After Foods and Fishway plan to target functional cultivated protein ingredients for premium pet food first, according to Vegconomist. The companies cite demand and the category’s regulatory position as reasons for that choice. They also intend the combined system to support cultivated seafood, meat and other protein applications. Eyal Rosenthal, chief executive of Ever After Foods, described the purchase as part of a strategy to combine complementary technologies. Fishway chief executive Annelies Bogaerts said the sector was moving towards industrial integration and commercialisation. Those statements explain management’s positioning. They do not show that the pet food programme has received approval or secured customers.

ProFuse is making a comparable move beyond a single cultivated meat application. Green Queen reports that the company is applying its muscle-growth knowledge to drug delivery and dietary supplement discovery. Its focus is muscle loss associated with GLP-1 medicines. Green Queen states that users can lose 25% to 40% of their muscle mass over eight to 16 months. The publication says that decline is several times greater than muscle loss from weight reduction without medication or from ageing. The supplied text does not identify the underlying clinical study. ProFuse has not shown that its cultivated meat inputs prevent that loss in people.

ProFuse argues that discoveries which protect or grow muscle could later return to cultivated meat research, according to Michrowski’s comments to Green Queen. The biological overlap is clear at a high level: both programmes concern muscle development. The routes to use are different. A culture supplement must perform in a production vessel and fit food regulation. A drug or dietary ingredient must meet safety and efficacy standards for people. Green Queen notes that cultivated meat producer Upside Foods created Lucius Labs in January to offer media formulations, buffers and stem cell products. That comparison shows another food technology company selling research tools, but it does not validate ProFuse’s health thesis.

LIMITS

The Queensland researchers describe their algae system as a feasibility demonstration rather than a factory-ready process, according to Food Research International. They used a standard laboratory cell model instead of the proprietary lines employed by commercial producers. Scale-up work is still planned. Magic Valley research and development head Andrew Laslett said lower media costs could help commercial production, Vegconomist reports. Yet the current evidence cannot show whether the loop remains stable in a large bioreactor, whether contamination controls raise costs or whether algal ingredients suit multiple commercial cell lines.

Regulatory progress also differs by market and product. Vegconomist reports that Australia and New Zealand have joined Singapore, Israel and the United States in permitting sales of cell-cultured meat. Approval in those jurisdictions does not settle the status of ProFuse’s bovine line, its supplements, Ever After Foods’ planned pet food ingredients or the Queensland recycled media. Each application may involve different cells, inputs and safety evidence. ProFuse says its EU-backed project produced a complete safety dossier for customers, according to Green Queen. The sources report no filing decision based on that material.

CONCLUSION

The strongest evidence concerns better use of production inputs, not benefits for GLP-1 users. Commercial tests, scale-up results and regulatory decisions will determine whether faster muscle maturation, aquatic platform integration and algae recycling can move from useful components to lower-cost production.