REG - Agronomics Limited - Meatly Receives Clearance for Cultivated Pet Food

AgronomicsAnnouncement

17/07/2024 08:00

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RNS Number : 7334W  Agronomics Limited  17 July 2024

 

17 July 2024

  (https://agronomics.im/) Agronomics (https://agronomics.im/) Ltd

("Agronomics" or the "Company")

 Meatly Receives Clearance for Sale of Cultivated Pet Food

Agronomics (LSE: ANIC), a leading listed company in the field of cellular
agriculture, is delighted to announce that its portfolio company, Good Dog
Food Limited (t/a "Meatly"), is the first company in the world to receive
regulatory clearance for cultivated meat to be sold as pet food, following
approval from UK regulators including the Food Standards Authority and the
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Meatly's cultivated
chicken for pet food can now be sold in the UK.

Meatly has prepared a robust safety dossier and performed extensive testing to
demonstrate that its cultivated chicken is safe and healthy for pets to eat.
This included showing it is nutritious and free from bacteria, viruses,
genetically modified organisms, antibiotics, harmful pathogens, heavy metals,
and other impurities.

Meatly's regulatory approval comes after only two years of operation and the
achievement of several significant technical and commercial milestones. In
May, Meatly announced the development of a protein-free culture medium
(https://polaris.brighterir.com/public/agronomics/news/rns/story/rmd6mnr)
costing only £1 per litre, significantly reducing costs and making its
production at the industrial scale more economically viable. Meatly has also
created the world's first cans of cultivated pet food
(https://www.foodmanufacture.co.uk/Article/2024/03/18/world-s-first-cultivated-canned-pet-food-set-to-launch)
, and secured investment from key pet industry companies such as Pets at Home
Limited.

Meatly plans to continue its cost reduction work and start scaling production
to reach industrial volumes within 3-5 years, providing an ethical and
environmentally sustainable food source for dogs and cats, which account for
c. 20% of global meat consumption.

Agronomics has invested £1.2 million into Meatly since inception, which is
currently carried at £5.0 million. This position accounts for approximately
3.0% of Agronomics last published Net Asset Value (31/03/2024)
(https://polaris.brighterir.com/public/agronomics/news/rns/story/rdjq53r) ,
including post-balance sheet adjustments. Agronomics has an equity ownership
of 38.7% on a fully diluted basis.

For Agronomics' video on Meatly's approval please visit:
https://www.agronomics.im/news/meatlyapproval
(https://www.agronomics.im/news/meatlyapproval)

Commenting on the announcement, Owen Ensor, Meatly CEO, said:

"Today marks a significant milestone for the European cultivated meat
industry. I am incredibly proud that Meatly is the first European company to
get the green light to sell cultivated meat. We are proving that there is a
safe and low-capital way to rapidly bring cultivated meat to market, as we
plan to sell our products to pet owners over the coming months.

Meatly is safe and healthy for pets, and we are delighted to have worked
proactively alongside the UK's regulators to showcase this. We can now
continue our mission to give consumers an easy choice - ensuring we can feed
our beloved pets the real meat they need and crave, in a kinder way to our
planet and other animals. We look forward to seeing the UK's pets digging into
a bowl of Meatly chicken very soon."

Jim Mellon, Agronomics' Executive Chair and investor in Meatly, added:

"Meatly's regulatory approval is a landmark event for the industry. Through
its technological innovation and close work with regulators, Meatly is helping
prove that we can succeed in commercialising cultivated products for pets
across the UK. Our pets consume huge amounts of meat every day and so this
development can play a crucial part in reducing the emissions, resource
consumption, and animal suffering caused by traditional meat production."

About Agronomics

Agronomics is a leading London-listed company focussing on investment
opportunities within the field of cellular agriculture. The Company has
established a portfolio of over 20 companies in this rapidly advancing sector.
It seeks to invest in companies owning technologies with defensible
intellectual property that offer new ways of producing food and materials with
a focus on products historically derived from animals. These technologies are
driving a major disruption in agriculture, offering solutions to improve
sustainability, as well as addressing human health, animal welfare and
environmental damage. This disruption will decouple supply chains from the
environment and animals and improve food security for the world's expanding
population. A full list of Agronomics' portfolio companies is available at
https://agronomics.im/ (https://agronomics.im/) .

For further information please contact:

 

 Agronomics Limited                               Beaumont Cornish Limited  Canaccord Genuity Limited        Cavendish Securities Plc  Peterhouse Capital Limited  SEC Newgate
 The Company                                      Nomad                     Joint Broker                     Joint Broker              Joint Broker                Public Relations
 Jim Mellon                                       Roland Cornish            Andrew Potts                     Giles Balleny             Lucy Williams               Bob Huxford

 Denham Eke                                       James Biddle              Harry Pardoe                     Michael Johnson           Charles Goodfellow          Anthony Hughes

                                                                            Alex Aylen (Head of Equities)
 +44 (0) 1624 639396                              +44 (0) 207 628 3396      +44 (0) 207 523 8000             +44 (0) 207 397 8900      +44 (0) 207 469 0936        agronomics@secnewgate.co.uk

 info@agronomics.im (mailto:info@agronomics.im)

 

Nominated Adviser

Beaumont Cornish Limited ("Beaumont Cornish") is the Company's Nominated
Adviser and is authorised and regulated by the FCA. Beaumont Cornish's
responsibilities as the Company's Nominated Adviser, including a
responsibility to advise and guide the Company on its responsibilities under
the AIM Rules for Companies and AIM Rules for Nominated Advisers, are owed
solely to the London Stock Exchange. Beaumont Cornish is not acting for and
will not be responsible to any other persons for providing protections
afforded to customers of Beaumont Cornish nor for advising them in relation to
the proposed arrangements described in this announcement or any matter
referred to in it.

 

 

 

 

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