A new wave of cultivated meat technology could slash production costs while solving a problem few saw coming, muscle loss in people taking weight loss drugs. The breakthrough comes from an EU-backed project that developed faster-growing muscle cells and a supplement to accelerate their maturation.
Livestock farming ranks among the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases. That makes alternative protein sources a critical piece of Europe’s push toward climate neutrality.
Demand for lab-grown meat continues climbing, but producers still battle three obstacles: steep costs, difficult scaling, and products that fail to match conventional meat’s texture and taste.
The PROFUSE project, backed by the European Innovation Council, tackled these issues head-on. The team focused exclusively on muscle tissue, developing two core technologies. One supplement, called PROFUSE-S1, speeds up the transformation of young muscle cells into mature fibres. A second-generation version, PROFUSE-S2, works in 3D systems that mirror factory conditions more accurately.
Meanwhile, the team also engineered a bovine muscle cell line that requires no genetic modification. Producers gain a dependable source of beef muscle cells capable of large-scale cultivation.
“We specialise in enabling technologies for growing muscle,” said project coordinator Guy Nevo Michrowski. “Steak is muscle, chicken breast is muscle.”
Real-world testing delivered results. A partnership with cultivated meat company SuperMeat showed meaningful cost reductions. The supplement trimmed production time, sped up cell maturation, and boosted overall muscle yield, lowering the cost per kilogram.
The bovine cell line also passed initial adaptation tests with a Dutch customer. That success lays groundwork for future integration as production schedules align.
Looking ahead, the company behind the project, ProFuse, sees a total addressable market of EUR 22 billion by 2050. As a result, the team now applies its muscle-growth expertise to a new frontier: drug discovery. Specifically, they aim to counter muscle loss associated with GLP-1 medications. Those discoveries could circle back to cultivated meat, since the core challenge remains identical: growing muscle better.
