About ORF Genetics
Twenty-five years of growing what science needs
ORF Genetics has produced animal-free, high-purity recombinant growth factors in barley since 2001. We supply researchers and manufacturers across cultivated meat, stem cell research, and regenerative medicine worldwide.
ISO 9001 certified · supplying companies worldwide
Started with a production problem. Still solving it.
In 2001, a team of plant biologists in Kopavogur, Iceland set out to find a better way to produce recombinant proteins, one that removed animal-derived contaminants from the equation entirely.
Growing recombinant proteins in mammalian cell lines is expensive, slow, and inherently risky. Animal-derived components introduce contamination vectors that researchers and manufacturers cannot afford. In 2001, a team of plant biologists in Kopavogur, Iceland decided there was a better way.
They chose barley grain as an expression host. Barley is endotoxin-free by nature, grows at scale in a controlled environment, and produces proteins in a native eukaryotic conformation. The result was the Orfeus platform — a molecular-farming system that turns bioengineered barley seed into a factory for high-purity recombinant growth factors.
The science worked. Over 25 years ORF Genetics has expanded its portfolio from human growth factors for stem cell research into species-specific growth factors for cultivated meat and cosmetic ingredients for the skincare industry. Today roughly ~150 companies across three markets rely on ORF supply. In 2022 ORF formally separated from BioEffect to pursue its B2B identity as a standalone materials company.
ORF is ISO 9001:2015 certified and building toward GMP — a quality path that matters to customers who need documented supply chains. The geothermal greenhouse on Iceland's Reykjanes Peninsula, powered by renewable energy, keeps production consistent year-round.
Twenty years ago, when we started our journey with our novel biotechnology based on barley plants, we realized that our innovation had great value, although in hindsight, we could not have imagined how successful it would become.
Dr. Bjorn Larus Orvar, Ph.D. — Co-Founder and CSO, ORF Genetics
Science you can build a process on
Quality without compromise
ISO 9001:2015 certified, batch-to-batch reproducibility, and full traceability. We do not release a lot until it meets spec. Our growth factors carry the longest shelf-life in the industry.
Biorisk-free by design
A plant host is endotoxin-free by nature. No animal-derived contaminants, no serum, no mammalian cell-culture risk, so your process starts clean and stays clean.
Proprietary plant technology
Our Orfeus barley-seed expression platform produces proteins in a native eukaryotic conformation. Patented, 25-year proven, and built for industrial scale, not adapted from another system.
Ready for what is next
From stem cell research to cultivated meat to organoid culture: ORF's portfolio grows with the science. Our scientists have collaborated with cell therapy and cultivated-meat pioneers since the earliest field trials.
Trusted by teams scaling cell culture
ORF growth factors power some of the most ambitious cultivated-meat and stem-cell research programmes worldwide. We work closely with our customers, most staying for years because reliable supply matters.
Scientists and builders, since 2001
ORF's team of researchers, production specialists, and business developers has built and refined the Orfeus platform over two and a half decades. When you work with ORF, you work with the people who built the science.
Berglind Ran Olafsdottir
CEO
Berglind leads ORF Genetics as CEO, steering the company's B2B strategy and customer relationships. She is the primary point of contact for ORF's commercial and content partnerships.
Bjorn Larus Orvar, Ph.D.
CSO and EVP of Business Development
Bjorn is co-founder of ORF Genetics and has led the barley molecular farming research from the outset. His PhD work laid the foundation for the Orfeus expression platform, which has been in production for over 25 years.
Ingimundur Arnason
Chief of Production, R&D and Scale-up
Ingimundur oversees production operations and R&D scale-up at ORF Genetics, instrumental in expanding MESOkine production capacity to meet growing demand from the cultivated-meat industry.
Marta Gudrun Blondal
Chief of Corporate Development
Marta leads corporate development at ORF Genetics, including the company's financing strategy and the structural work that followed the 2022 demerger from BioEffect.
From a lab bench in Kopavogur to laboratories worldwide
25 years in the making
Founded in Kopavogur, Iceland
ORF Genetics was established to develop a cleaner, more scalable method for producing recombinant proteins, using bioengineered barley grain instead of mammalian cell lines. The Orfeus expression platform was the result.
DERMOkine introduced
ORF launched its first barley-derived growth-factor ingredient for the cosmetics industry, demonstrating that the Orfeus platform could serve multiple markets with the same quality standard.
MESOkine launched for cultivated meat
MESOkine, a portfolio of species-specific animal growth factors designed for cultivated meat and seafood, reached market. It addressed a gap that no established supplier had targeted: affordable, biorisk-free, species-specific factors at the scale the industry would need.
Formal demerger from BioEffect
Effective 1 January 2022, ORF Genetics and BIOEFFECT became fully independent companies. ORF retained the Orfeus technology and B2B materials business. The separation positioned ORF as a dedicated B2B life-science supplier.
ISO 9001:2015 certified
ORF achieved ISO 9001:2015 certification, a quality system milestone that is a purchasing gate for many research institutions and manufacturers.
First cultivated-meat tasting in Europe
ORF and Australia's Vow presented Europe's first cultivated Japanese quail tasting, validating that MESOkine growth factors can support production-scale cell culture for a finished food product.
Scaling MESOkine, road to GMP
ORF secured funding to expand MESOkine production capacity 14x by 2027 and is actively pursuing GMP certification, the quality standard that unlocks purchasing for clinical and regulated applications. The next chapter is scale.
Get in touch
Work with a supplier who has been doing this for 25 years
Talk to our scientists about your application or request a quote. ISO 9001 certified, worldwide distribution, datasheets on request.
Datasheets, SDS, and certificates of analysis available. Worldwide distributor network.