(Alliance News) - Agronomics Ltd on Tuesday said its investee and Boston-based plant cell culture company Galy Co entered into a ten-year USD50 million partnership with Suzuran Medical Inc.
The partnership will allow Suzuran to use thousands of tons annually of Galy's laboratory-grown cotton in its products.
Cellular agriculture and cultivated meat-focused venture capital investor Agronomics said Suzuran will use Galy's lab-grown cotton, which is grown from cells instead of plants, in products such as cosmetic cotton and cotton sheets, and medical products such as gauze and absorbent cotton for medical and consumer use.
Suzuran has been working with Galy since 2021, Agronomics noted, when they completed a proof-of-concept evaluating the quality of the fibres.
Galy Founder & Chief Executive Officer Luciano Bueno commented: "It's huge, we believe it is the first-time lab-grown cotton will enter any market worldwide. With all our success in our product development, solidifying our partnership with Suzuran, and the industry interest across products, we're in a very exciting spot right now, with hopes to commercialise in the next few years."
Agronomics Co-Founder & Executive Director Jim Mellon added: "We're delighted with Galy's progress in their mission to revolutionise cotton production, safeguard our environment, and disrupt conventional agriculture. Galy has successfully demonstrated its ability to produce cotton from plant cells and Agronomics sees huge potential for other opportunities to arise from this technology. We're looking forward to working with the team on their exciting new growth phase."
Agronomics first invested in Galy in 2020 with a USD500,000 investment, followed by a further USD1 million investment in 2022. It added that it carries this aggregate position in its accounts at a book value of USD3.5 million, representing an unrealised gain on cost of USD2.0 million.
Shares in Agronomics were up 1.2% to 10.50 pence each in London on Tuesday late morning.
By Greg Rosenvinge, Alliance News reporter
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Agronomics (ANIC)