17 March 2026

BSF Enterprise PLC

Significant Commercial Milestone for Lab-Grown Leather Tanning

BSF Enterprise PLC (LSE: BSFA), the tissue-engineering innovator, is pleased to report a major technical and commercial milestone for its wholly-owned subsidiary, Lab-Grown Leather Ltd ("LGL"). LGL has successfully tanned scaffold-free, cultivated skin in A4-sized sheets, marking a critical step toward the large-scale commercialisation of sustainable luxury and ultra-luxury materials.

Key Highlights

●     Advanced Tanning Success: First-of-its-kind tanning achieved in the UK, using a newly developed process that preserves the high-performance qualities of traditional leather.

●     Environmental Impact: Tanning was completed without the use of heavy metals like chromium by employing only plant-derived, sustainable tanning agents

●     Industry Validation: Professional tanners have confirmed the material is comparable to traditional leather.

A New Category of Luxury Material

The proprietary process developed by LGL has yielded a totally new form of material. By using tissue engineering to grow scaffold-free skin from the cellular level, the Company has created a bio-equivalent material that maintains the most desirable characteristics of traditional leather - including its natural strength, versatility, distinct smell, and breathability - while developing a unique patina over time.

Crucially, this "Elemental" leather series bypasses the most challenging aspects of traditional leather production. By cultivating only the required dermis and to a specific shape and size, LGL eliminates the need for animal rearing (and its associated land and water use) whilst providing a near zero-waste leather product  (minimising the 30% currently lost to trimming). Furthermore, the cultivated skin arrives at the tanning stage without the hair or fats present on raw hides, allowing eliminating the beamhouse processes required for traditional leather. This significantly reduces the cost as well as the chemical and environmental footprint of leather-making.

No Chromium

Importantly, only vegetable tanning components were used, removing the need for using toxic heavy metals. Despite chromium-based leather tanning creating significant environmental concerns, this metal is still used in approximately 90% of global leather production, resulting in hazardous wastewater that contaminates groundwater and aquatic systems.

UK Tanning Success and Collaboration

The tanning of these A4 sheets was successfully completed in the United Kingdom. In a departure from historical industry norms, where similar "behind-closed-doors" tanning was often conducted by in-house luxury fashion teams, LGL worked under a collaborative agreement with seasoned master tanners.

This open-innovation approach allowed for real-time adjustments and expert feedback, resulting in a finish that industry professionals believe is comparable to specific forms of traditional leather. Samples of these A4 sheets are to be shared with a leading global fashion house under a previously established agreement for evaluation and prototype development.

Dr Emily Telford, Principal Scientist at Lab-Grown Leather

Elemental Leather form

The newly tanned material has a pronounced pebble grain highlighting the natural structures, with deckled or "live" edges showing the raw fibers of the cultivated skin. It possesses a matte finish, made possible by not being coated with heavy pigments or plastics, and consequently allowing the leather to develop a rich patina over time.

The material has medium-firm temper due in part to the use of vegetable tannins and has a noticeable "spring-back" when bent, thus being well suited to make wallets, satchels, and high-end cases that need to maintain a crisp, professional silhouette.

In the touch, the material has a high "dry-grip" texture, with a dense, fibrous core that feels substantial in the hand, similar to what high-quality hides typically provide.

Being vegetable-tanned, it provides the cultivated leather with strong eco-friendly credentials whilst retaining extreme durability.

Forthcoming T-Rex Leather™ Showcase and Unveiling

In addition to the progress with increased sample sizes and scalable process, the Company is pleased to confirm the upcoming T-Rex Leather™ showcase and unveiling taking place in Amsterdam on April 2nd.

In partnership with VML and The Orgainoid Company, LGL will reveal the world's first consumer ultra-luxury item crafted from T-Rex Leather^TM. This material, engineered using fossilized Tyrannosaurus Rex collagen as a genetic blueprint, will demonstrate the power of LGL's platform to create "extinct luxury" materials that are ethically produced and entirely unique to the market.

Che Connon, CEO of BSF Enterprise, commented:

"The successful tanning of A4-sized sheets in the UK is the 'proof of concept' the industry has been waiting for. We have shown that we can preserve the soul of leather-the smell, the feel, the durability-while removing the ethical and environmental baggage. Elemental^TM is not a compromise but a technological upgrade. Working collaboratively with tanners has accelerated our progress significantly, and we look forward to revealing the fruits of this labour in Amsterdam and with our fashion house partners."

https://bsfenterprise.com/link/eWanpP

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About BSF Enterprise PLC

BSF Enterprise PLC (LSE:BSFA) develops and commercialises cutting-edge tissue-engineered solutions, including lab-grown leather (via LGL), cultivated meat, and corneal repair technologies. By leveraging its proprietary scaffold-free ATEP™ platform, BSF delivers sustainable, high-performance alternatives to conventional materials, targeting global markets where provenance, ethics, and performance are increasingly prized by consumers and brands alike.