REHOVOT, ISRAEL — Cultivated meat producer Aleph Farms announced the acquisition of a manufacturing facility in Modi’in, Israel, and other related assets from VBL Therapeutics, a biotechnology company. Aleph Farms has also signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with ESCO Aster to produce cultivated meat in Singapore.

“Israel and Singapore are the first two markets where we intend to launch our cultivated thin-cut steak,” said Didier Toubia, chief executive officer and co-founder of Aleph Farms. “Building up production capacity quickly in those locations while keeping capital investment lean provides a clear roadmap to scalability. Beyond Israel and Singapore, we plan on building additional strategic assets worldwide as part of our effort to bring more security and resilience to food systems.”

Aleph Farms’ pilot facility in Rehovot, Israel, will gain the existing assets and technology from VBL. With the added resources, the company can increase production.

“Our state-of-the-art facility will enable Aleph Farms to unlock value and ramp up local production in an efficient manner,” said Dror Harats, MD, chief executive officer of VBL. “We look forward to seeing the facility support Aleph Farms’ goals in the future.”

Aleph Farms’ MOU establishes a business partnership that will support Singapore’s goal to satisfy 30% of the country’s nutritional needs locally and sustainably by 2030. With full regulatory approval from the Singapore Food Agency to commercially produce cultivated meat, ESCO Aster will provide Aleph Farms with manufacturing expertise.

“We are proud to be working with Aleph Farms to bring its cultivated steak to Singapore," said Xiangliang Lin, CEO of ESCO Aster. "As part of our contract manufacturing MOU, we will work together with religious authorities on obtaining a halal certificate for our facility, enabling our collaboration with Aleph to expand to even more of the broader region."

ESCO Aster has also partnered with Meatable and Mosa Meat within the past year, working to bring their cultivated meat products to the Singapore market.