Aleph Farms Hires Chief of Regulatory Affairs Ahead of Global Commercialization

New Chief of Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance will help the company accelerate commercialization amidst a growing consumer demand and advancements in the regulatory environment

REHOVOT, Israel--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aleph Farms, the first cultivated meat company to grow steaks directly from non-genetically engineered animal cells, today announced the addition of Yifat Gavriel as Chief of Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance. In this position, Gavriel will play a critical role in the introduction of Aleph Farms’ novel products into global markets. The establishment of a regulatory approval process for cultivated meat is underway in many countries around the world, with the Singapore Food Agency the first to approve it as an ingredient in 2020.

“Yifat brings valuable expertise to the team, and we are delighted to have her join us at such a critical juncture in our journey to market,” said Didier Toubia, CEO and co-founder of Aleph Farms. “In our work with regulatory agencies around the world, we have seen firsthand how they encourage innovation and have been willing to continue transparent dialogues with us and the wider cultivated meat industry. The next 6-12 months will prove critical as we work closely with regulators to launch our first product in key markets.”

Gavriel joins after previously serving as the head of regulatory affairs at Omrix Biosurgery Israel (a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary), where she managed the entire biological portfolio end-to-end, including biological products, combination products and medical device products. She has more than 15 years of experience in quality assurance and regulatory affairs management and has established and assured product quality compliance in 10 different manufacturing sites across the globe, marketing products in more than 20 different regions.

“Joining Aleph Farms presents an exciting opportunity and challenge at this stage of my career, and I am looking forward to working together with Didier and the rest of the team to ensure that our quality management complies with the highest international standards,” said Gavriel. “Cultivated meat is a great complement to sustainably-farmed animal products and alternative proteins. Now it’s a matter of making sure the different regulatory needs are met to bring our products to consumers around the world in a timely manner.”

Aleph Farms is in close contact with multiple regulatory agencies around the world as it pursues plans for market entry of its first product, a thin-cut cultivated beef steak. The regulatory review of future products and production processes will go through different frameworks based on regulatory pathways as formalized by each specific country or region.

About Aleph Farms

Aleph Farms grows cultivated beef steaks, from non-genetically engineered cells, that are not immortalized, isolated from a living cow, without slaughtering the animal and with a significantly reduced impact to the environment. The company was co-founded in 2017 by Didier Toubia, The Kitchen Hub of the Strauss Group, and Professor Shulamit Levenberg from the Biomedical Engineering Faculty at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology. The company’s vision is to provide unconditional nutrition for anyone, anytime, anywhere. For more information, follow Aleph Farms on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn or visit www.aleph-farms.com. Access the Aleph Farms press kit here.