BSF Enterprise PLC (LSE:BSFA) shares roared 70% higher to 1.56p after the company unveiled what it claims is the world’s first product made from lab-grown "T-Rex leather".
The company, which develops lab-grown tissues and biomaterials, said a luxury handbag made from its T-Rex Leather™ will debut at the Art Zoo Museum in Amsterdam.
The material has been developed by its subsidiary Lab-Grown Leather Ltd using reconstructed collagen sequences based on fossil data. In simple terms, collagen is the protein that gives skin its structure and is a key component in leather.
Scientists used AI models to rebuild fragments of dinosaur protein, then grew cells at scale to create a new material designed to mimic prehistoric skin, without using animals.
The handbag is a one-off and will be auctioned later this year, serving mainly as a proof of concept rather than a commercial product. Lab-Grown Leather made the material in collaboration with The Organoid Company and creative agency VML, while the handbag was designed by label Enfin Levé.
BSF said it plans to scale the technology into luxury fashion and, longer term, automotive interiors, targeting a combined market worth tens of billions of dollars.
Chief executive Dr Che Connon said: "By collaborating with VML and The Organoid Company, we're unlocking the potential to engineer leather from prehistoric species. This venture showcases the power of cell-based technology to create materials that are both innovative and ethically sound, paving the way for commercially attractive improvements in unique character and cost-efficiency".