# HebeCell Corp

> HebeCell Corp is a Natick, Massachusetts biotech developing allogeneic, off-the-shelf cell therapies grown from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Its core invention is a suspension-bioreactor platform, ProtoNK, that produces natural killer (NK) cells indefinitely and at scale - a manufacturing approach the company says no other lab can match. Founded in 2016, HebeCell aims to make cancer and degenerative-disease therapies cheaper, safer, and available without a matched donor, under the tagline 'Incurable no more.'

- **Founded:** 2016
- **Headquarters:** Natick, Massachusetts, United States
- **Founders:** John Lu (President and CEO (Ph.D, MPH)), Allen Feng (Chief Scientific Officer (Ph.D); credited as founder)
- **Team size:** Approximately 11-20 employees
- **Products:** ProtoNK Manufacturing Platform, ProtoNK Cryopreserved Cells, Custom-Made Cell Production Services, Contract Manufacturing Services, Retinal Photoreceptor Progenitors (RPRPs)
- **Notable:** Developed and patented a method to produce allogeneic NK cells indefinitely from iPSCs in suspension bioreactors., Raised about $63M total ($10M Pre-Series A in 2020, $53M Series A in 2021)., Established multiple co-development partnerships (Ankarys, Applied StemCell, Proteintech, Logomix).

## Products & services

- **ProtoNK Manufacturing Platform** — Patented suspension-bioreactor system that produces allogeneic natural killer (NK) cells indefinitely from induced pluripotent stem cells, designed for scalable, repeatable manufacturing.
- **ProtoNK Cryopreserved Cells** — Off-the-shelf iPSC-derived NK cells supplied in quantities from roughly 10^6 to 10^10 for research and therapeutic development.
- **Custom-Made Cell Production Services** — Bespoke production of stem-cell-derived cell types tailored to partner specifications.
- **Contract Manufacturing Services** — GMP-oriented contract manufacturing of cell products for partners and clients.
- **Retinal Photoreceptor Progenitors (RPRPs)** — Photoreceptor precursor cells aimed at the prevention and treatment of retinal degeneration.
- **iPSC-derived CAR-NK / nCAR-NK programs** — Engineered NK cell therapeutics, including nanobody-based chimeric antigen receptor (nCAR) NK cells, developed with partners for cancer immunotherapy.

## Achievements

- Developed and patented a method to produce allogeneic NK cells indefinitely from iPSCs in suspension bioreactors.
- Raised about $63M total ($10M Pre-Series A in 2020, $53M Series A in 2021).
- Established multiple co-development partnerships (Ankarys, Applied StemCell, Proteintech, Logomix).
- Listed among 12+ leading companies in the iPSC-derived NK cell clinical pipeline by industry analysts.
- Commercialized off-the-shelf ProtoNK cryopreserved cells and contract manufacturing services.

## Latest updates

- **2026-02** — HebeCell named among 12+ companies leading the iPSC-derived NK cell clinical trial pipeline in a DelveInsight industry report.
- **2021-08** — Closed $53M Series A round to advance its NK cell development and scale manufacturing.
- **2020-10** — Announced strategic collaboration with Ankarys Therapeutics and Applied StemCell on iPSC-derived CAR-NK therapeutics.
- **2020-04** — Raised $10M Pre-Series A led by Aceso Biotech Venture Fund to build a GMP facility and scale the NK platform.

## Links

- Website: https://hebecellcorp.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/hebecell

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/hebecell-corp
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-15