BSF Enterprise PLC on Wednesday said that it has received grant funding to help support the progress of its lab-grown leather and corneal product offerings.

BSF is a London-based biotechnology investor which owns tissue engineering company 3D Bio-Tissues Ltd and corneal tissue replacement company Kerato Ltd.

The firm said the first grant is for 3DBT’s collaboration with Newcastle University to work on the development of a ‘cost-effective, ethical and sustainable ocular toxicity model,’ it said.

‘The grant will support product development and research being progressed at Kerato Ltd to reduce the reliance on animal testing when carrying out ocular toxicity testing to demonstrate product safety for new-to-market active ingredients and consumer goods products,’ BSF explained.

The second grant is for a collaboration between 3DBT and the University of Northampton.

According to BSF, the project will use 3DBT’s bio equivalent dermal tissue combined with the University of Northampton’s leather manufacturing expertise for the development of ethical and sustainable leather.

Both grants were provided Government agency Innovate UK, but BSF did not disclose the amount of funding it will receive.

Managing Director Che Connon said: ‘These two exciting projects mark the next step in the growth and development of our lab-grown leather and cornea product solutions. 3DBT’s technology is at the forefront of producing bio-equivalent tissues for clinical and cellular agriculture, applying novel bio-inspired manufacturing processes to generate complex structures. Following the advent of Kerato Ltd in 2023 and with the intention to establish Lab-Grown Leather in 2024, we are now working with industry-leading universities to apply 3DBT’s technologies with their manufacturing knowledge to develop go-to-market products under the BSF Enterprise brand.’

Shares in BSF were down 5.9% to 7.53 pence each in London on late Wednesday morning.

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