FlyBlast Seeks Bankruptcy: The Emphasis on Cultivated Meat Proved Fatal for Its Operations
In a significant blow to the world of genetically engineered protein production, the Belgian startup FlyBlast has filed for bankruptcy. The company, which specialised in genetically modifying black soldier flies (BSF) to produce high-value proteins like insulin, has left a gap in the market following its collapse.
FlyBlast made significant technical strides, generating multiple transgenic BSF lines capable of producing molecules such as human insulin, transferrin, IGF1, FGF2, and EGF at relatively low cost and speed. However, the company's business model was heavily reliant on the cultivated meat industry, which is still nascent and capital-constrained. This focus on a single, unstable market contributed to FlyBlast's inability to secure further funding and eventual bankruptcy in July 2025.
Currently, no other commercial entities appear to be manufacturing genetically engineered BSF that produce therapeutic proteins like insulin at scale. Other initiatives, such as the large-scale investigation by Bioeconomy Science Institute in New Zealand, are instead focusing on optimising natural black soldier fly larvae for producing health-promoting ingredients, antioxidants, and high-quality proteins mainly for animal feed or food waste bioconversion, rather than transgenic production of pharmaceuticals.
Johan Jacobs, the founder of FlyBlast, had an insect farming company for 10 years (Millibeter) that was sold to AgriProtein in 2019. Jacobs noted that the black soldier fly can be genetically modified very fast and at relatively low cost, and there will be groundbreaking applications from transgenic BSF in many sectors. He stated that in the current climate, everything needs to be right to succeed, and FlyBlast did not get everything right.
The sales cycle with their first customer for a custom strain development would have been 16 months. FlyBlast started getting traction in the animal health and performance market, but customers are cost-conscious and slow to make decisions. The company aimed to mass-produce molecules used in cell culture media for cultivated meat such as insulin, transferrin, IGF1, FGF2, and EGF, potentially slashing the cost of goods for startups in the space.
Jacobs expressed that they could have made an impact in the animal health market with better funding and a more focused approach. He also noted that the biggest advantage of black soldier flies over genetically engineered microbes as production vehicles for high-value recombinant proteins is the ability to farm them at a large scale and cheaply to make proteins and lipids.
Despite the setback, the technical feasibility for using genetically modified black soldier flies for high-value protein production has been demonstrated. Companies interested in BSF-derived high-value proteins like insulin will find the space largely experimental and pre-commercial at present.
Science and technology intersect in the realm of genetically engineered black soldier flies, as shown by FlyBlast's groundbreaking strides in producing therapeutic proteins like insulin at relatively low cost. However, the financial sector's reluctance to invest in nascent industries such as the cultivated meat industry, combined with a business model heavily reliant on this market, resulted in FlyBlast's bankruptcy.
