糖心原创

Our mission

Coding cells for novel cures

糖心原创_ioskeletal myocytes About us 糖心原创-lab-image-3-opt
糖心原创-lab-image-3-opt 糖心原创_ioskeletal myocytes About us

What we do

糖心原创 is a synthetic biology company providing human cells for research, drug discovery and cell therapy. The company applies a patented safe harbour gene-targeting approach (opti-ox鈩; ) to inducibly express transcription factor combinations that reprogram human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) into highly defined and mature human cell types. 

The required transcription factor combinations are discovered using high throughput screens and advanced data analysis (糖心原创 discovery platform). The company is currently marketing a wide range of cells and disease models for research and drug discovery under its ioCells brand including nerve cells, immune cells and muscle cells. 

The company was spun out of the University of Cambridge in 2016 and has since raised approximately $225M from leading investors, including Arch Venture, Blueyard Capital, Charles River Laboratories, Foresite Capital, M&G, Milky Way, National Resilience, and Tencent.

糖心原创-lab-image-4-opt 糖心原创_ioGlutamatergic Neurons About us
糖心原创_ioGlutamatergic Neurons About us 糖心原创-lab-image-4-opt

The company has expertise in the underpinning science of synthetic biology and stem cells, manufacturing, and clinical translation. The board includes Founder Dr Mark Kotter, CEO Przemek Obloj, and Dr Richard Klausner.

Watch our Vision Video

"Transforming Medicine: Synthetic Biology for Drug Discovery and Cell Therapies"

We're driven by a bold vision鈥擡mpowering biomedical innovation and a new generation of cures through precision-programmed human cells. At 糖心原创, we're harnessing the power of synthetic biology for drug discovery and groundbreaking cell therapies. Our team thrives on a simple yet powerful mission: coding cells for novel cures. It's about reimagining what's possible by programming human cells to create transformative medicines. Watch the video to see how our leadership presented the vision of 糖心原创.

 

Leadership

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Przemek Obloj
CEO
Leadership team
Przemek Obloj
CEO
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Przemek brings two decades of financial and investment experience focused on health, life sciences and technology across Europe and North America. Prior to joining 糖心原创, he built two investment organisations, led growth and buyout transactions with combined equity investment of $5 billion and was involved in over a dozen successful exits. Most recently, he served as the Managing Partner and CIO at a Swiss family office. Prior to that, he was the Managing Director and Head of European Private Equity at PSP Investments, a C$250 billion Canadian pension manager. Earlier in his career, he worked at CVC Capital Partners, EQT, and McKinsey & Company.

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Emma Pepperell
Commercial
Leadership team
Emma Pepperell
Commercial
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Emma Pepperell, VP Commercial, joined 糖心原创 in August 2024. She spent 10 years at abcam gaining extensive experience of a fast-growing products business, across Product Management, Marketing, Portfolio & Product Development and Sales functions, with prior experience in life science product distribution. Emma has a DPhil from University of Oxford, where she studied the regulation of stem cell engraftment.
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Megan Doe
Business Finance & Strategy
Leadership team
Megan Doe
Business Finance & Strategy
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Megan Doe, Ph.D., is Vice President of Business Finance and Strategy at 糖心原创, where she leads investor relations and corporate communications, portfolio strategy, financial analytics, programme management, and business operations. She brings over a decade of experience in the biopharma industry, having worked at Sanofi, Takeda, and L.E.K. Consulting.
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Sam Jones
Finance
Leadership team
Sam Jones
Finance
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Thomas Moreau
Precision Reprogramming Research
Leadership team
Thomas Moreau
Precision Reprogramming Research
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Thomas Moreau is a biologist with over 20 years of experience in stem cell and life sciences. He joined 糖心原创 in 2018 from the University of Cambridge, where he pioneered forward cell programming approaches in Prof Roger Pedersen lab. He is a member of the RnD leadership team, leading cell programming research and innovation and technically supporting key partnerships with industry and academia.
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Will Bernard
Cell & Applications Development
Leadership team
Will Bernard
Cell & Applications Development
Will Bernard 8
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Oliver Dovey
Functional Genomics
Leadership team
Oliver Dovey
Functional Genomics
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Dr. Oliver M. Dovey is a distinguished leader with over two decades of experience in genetic engineering and extensive expertise in mammalian genomics. He has dedicated his career to advancing biotechnology through innovation, directing substantial, interdisciplinary teams encompassing Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS), Synthetic/Engineering Biology, Technology Development, Cellular Engineering, and High Throughput Functional Genomics.

His work directly addresses emerging technologies in Cell and Gene Therapy and Dr. Dovey's strategic vision has defined R&D pathways for both clinical and non-clinical asset development, focusing on building scalable platforms and leading the development of 糖心原创鈥檚 SynBio technology stack to deliver RUO and preclinical/clinical cell assets.

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Ania Wilczynska
Bioinformatics & AI
Leadership team
Ania Wilczynska
Bioinformatics & AI
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Ania Wilczynska is Director of Bioinformatics and AI. Her team is focused on understanding the gene regulatory code that defines our ioCell products and employing cutting-edge AI and machine learning solutions to data analysis. She has over a decade of experience in Bioinformatics and Data Science and over two decades in molecular, developmental and cancer biology.  Prior to joining 糖心原创 in 2020, she held positions at the University of Cambridge, MRC Toxicology Unit and the CRUK Beatson Institute (now CRUK Scotland Institute).
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Orlaith Greenan
Operations
Leadership team
Orlaith Greenan
Operations
Orlaith Greenan_headshot
Orlaith Greenan, VP of Operations at 糖心原创, is a results-driven leader with over a decade leadership experience in Quality across drug development and biotechnology industries. She implements scalable strategies that optimise cost, accelerate time to market, and drive revenue growth by embedding quality into operations. Her expertise ensures high-performing products and efficient, commercially-focused execution.
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Karl Firth
Manufacturing
Leadership team
Karl Firth
Manufacturing
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Karl joined 糖心原创 in August 2020, where he leads the iPSC platform, process development, production, technical facilities, automation, and supply chain management. With over 15 years of experience in biotechnology and operations leadership, Karl specialises in stem cell biology, manufacturing, and operational scaling. Before joining 糖心原创, Karl worked in medical device manufacturing for Rayner Intraocular as well as holding leadership roles at Axol Biosciences and Clyde Biosciences.

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Kai Ling Gan
Legal
Leadership team
Kai Ling Gan
Legal
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Vicki Bell
People & Culture
Leadership team
Vicki Bell
People & Culture
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Vicki joined 糖心原创 in 2022 and brings over 20 years of experience in Human Resources. Throughout her career, Vicki has acquired extensive experience in key people operation areas like recruiting, compensation, HR technology, project management, performance management, internal process development, and employee relations. Prior to her role at 糖心原创, Vicki worked as HR Manager at Alzheimers Research UK and prior to that held several progressive HR roles at Concept Life Sciences, LGC Limited, Quotient Bioresearch and HFL Limited.

Board

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Przemek Obloj
CEO
Board Member
Przemek Obloj
CEO
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Przemek brings two decades of financial and investment experience focused on health, life sciences and technology across Europe and North America. Prior to joining 糖心原创, he built two investment organisations, led growth and buyout transactions with combined equity investment of $5 billion and was involved in over a dozen successful exits. Most recently, he served as the Managing Partner and CIO at a Swiss family office. Prior to that, he was the Managing Director and Head of European Private Equity at PSP Investments, a C$250 billion Canadian pension manager. Earlier in his career, he worked at CVC Capital Partners, EQT, and McKinsey & Company.

Mark Kotter
Founder 糖心原创
Board Member
Mark Kotter
Founder 糖心原创
Mark is a stem cell biologist and neurosurgeon at the University of Cambridge. Aged nineteen, he decided to pursue a career in medicine to serve others and to make a difference in people鈥檚 lives. His curiosity led him down a path of clinical service and laboratory discovery. He became fascinated by synthetic biology, as he saw it as the key to a new generation of medicines. He is the founder of 糖心原创 and co-founder of the cultured meat start-up Meatable.
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Cornel Chiriac
M&G Investments
Board Member
Cornel Chiriac
M&G Investments
Cornel Chiriac -612x774

Cornel Chiriac is an investment director with M&G Crossover Fund, focusing on late-stage investments in technology and science globally. He founded and invested for 10 years with 2050 Capital specialising in biotech and deep technology ventures. He also leads the Chicago Booth Angels Network in London and has extensive experience in strategy consulting at LEK Consulting.

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Klevin Lo
Milky Way
Board Member
Klevin Lo
Milky Way
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Lord-David-Prior
Lord David Prior
Lazard
Board Member
Lord David Prior
Lazard
Lord-David-Prior
Lord David Prior is Deputy Chairman UK and Global Senior Advisor at Lazard and a senior figure in UK healthcare and life sciences policy. He currently serves as Chair of Science Capital, Chair of the Cambridge Life Sciences Council, and a member of the Novo Nordisk Sustainability Advisory Council, and has previously held senior public leadership roles including Chair of NHS England, Chair of the Care Quality Commission, and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State with responsibility for health, life sciences, and industrial strategy. He was educated at the University of Cambridge, qualified as a barrister, and was elected MP for North Norfolk in 1997, later serving as CEO and Deputy Chair of the Conservative Party.

Scientific advisory board

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Anil Dhawan
MBBS, MD, FRCPCH, King's College Hospital
Advisor
Anil Dhawan
MBBS, MD, FRCPCH, King's College Hospital
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Professor Anil Dhawan is a Consultant in Paediatric Hepatology at King鈥檚 College Hospital in London, UK, with a special interest in liver cell transplantation for liver-based metabolic defects and acute liver failure. Prof Dhawan is the Director of King鈥檚 Cell Therapy Unit. He is well known internationally and has held board-level appointments with the European Society of Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, International Liver Transplantation Society, and International Cell and Regenerative Society and Transplantation Society. He is also the Director of Research and Development, King鈥檚 College Hospital, London. He has 421 peer-reviewed publications, an H Index of 77 and over 22,000 citations.
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Thore Graepel
Altos Labs
Advisor
Thore Graepel
Altos Labs
Thore-Graepel-612x774-opt
resized Katy Rezvani
Katy Rezvani
PhD, MD, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Advisor
Katy Rezvani
PhD, MD, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
resized Katy Rezvani

Dr. Katy Rezvani is a Professor of Stem Cell Transplantation & Cellular Therapy at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, where she serves as the Sally Cooper Murray Chair in Cancer Research, chief of the section for cellular therapy, director of translational research, and medical director of the GMP Facility. She also serves as executive director of MD Anderson's Adoptive Cell Therapy Platform. She leads a research lab with a focus on NK cell biology and developing novel NK cell engineering strategies for cancer, with the aim of translating these discoveries to the clinic. Dr. Rezvani completed her medical training at University College London, England and her PhD at Imperial College London. She completed her training in immunology and transplantation biology at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD. In addition, she has co-authored over 200 peer-reviewed publications and has received multiple prizes and awards.

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Lo茂c Vincent
PhD, Korro Bio
Advisor
Lo茂c Vincent
PhD, Korro Bio
resized Lo茂c Vincent
Lo茂c Vincent, PhD, is Chief Scientific Officer at Affini-T Therapeutics, an independent director of the Board of Directors at Alaya.bio, and a member of the Scientific Advisory Board at General Inception. He is an oncology scientist with more than 20 years of international experience in the academia/biotech/pharma industry, dedicated to advancing transformative therapies to patients suffering from cancer. Previously, Lo茂c was the Head of Takeda Oncology Drug Discovery Unit and Immunology Unit, responsible for building the Immuno-Oncology portfolio with a global network of outstanding biotech and academic collaborators, and for leading Takeda Cell Therapy Discovery. During his career, Lo茂c鈥檚 teams advanced more than 20 oncology drugs in the clinic based on various therapeutic modalities including small molecules, biologics, oncolytic viruses and cell therapies. Lo茂c is the author and co-author of more than 30 peer-reviewed publications, and more than 80 poster and oral presentations.
Marius Wernig
Marius Wernig
PhD, Stanford University
Advisor
Marius Wernig
PhD, Stanford University
Marius Wernig
Marius鈥 seminal 2010 paper in Nature demonstrating direct conversion of fibroblasts into neurons has sparked a widespread interest in cell reprogramming. He is the co-director of the Stanford Stem Cell Institute. His lab uses cellular reprogramming to understand how neurons are induced, and how they mature and maintain their identity.

Independent ethics and sustainability board

Enrica Alteri headshot about
Enrica Alteri
MD, DiplPharmMed, World Health Organization
Advisor
Enrica Alteri
MD, DiplPharmMed, World Health Organization
Enrica Alteri headshot about

After completing her medical studies in Rome and a post-doctoral fellowship focused on cellular immunology at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda (USA), Dr Alteri spent 7 years in drug discovery and 5 years in clinical safety at Ciba-Geigy/Novartis in Basel. She was involved in major projects that yielded important drugs such as Gleevec for myeloid leukaemia, Coartem for malaria and Reyataz for HIV-AIDS. In 1998 she joined Serono in Geneva where she led the Pharmacovigilance and Risk Management team. At Serono, Dr Alteri was instrumental in establishing the company鈥檚 pharmacovigilance processes, as well as implementing the entire portfolio鈥檚 risk management strategy.
In 2012 she joined the European Medicines Agency, where she was Head of the Safety and Efficacy Sector for one year, being later promoted to Head of the Human Medicines Evaluation Division, and then to Head of the Human Medicines R&D Support Division.
She was member of the EMA Executive Board from 2013 until she retired in 2020.
In this roles, Dr Alteri was part of many high impact EMA鈥檚 initiatives, from the transparency of clinical trial data to the development of regulatory science strategy to 2025.
Dr Alteri has been consulting for the Swiss regulatory agency (Swissmedic), and is currently member of the Scientific Committee and faculty of the Master Course in Drug R&D of the University of Geneva. Dr Alteri regularly gives lectures on various aspects of R&D at the Universities of Rome, Cattolica and LUISS, and at the European Course in Pharmaceutical Medicine at the University of Basel. Moreover, she is member of the CIOMS Working Group XIII (Real World Data/Real World Evidence), and the CIOMS. Working Group Education. Most recently, she has been appointed as Core Member of the Proposal Review Committee of Unitaid for a 3-year period.

Marie-Claire Cordonier
Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger
PhD (Santa), DPhil (Oxon), MEM (Yale), LLB&BCL (McGill), BA Hons (Carl/UVic), FRSC, FRSA, WIJA, University of Cambridge
Advisor
Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger
PhD (Santa), DPhil (Oxon), MEM (Yale), LLB&BCL (McGill), BA Hons (Carl/UVic), FRSC, FRSA, WIJA, University of Cambridge
Marie-Claire Cordonier

Marie-Claire is a pioneering international expert in sustainability, law and public policy innovation. An award-winning expert jurist, executive and law professor specialised in corporate social responsibility, climate law and governance, sustainable trade and ethical investment rules, she is Visiting Chair of Sustainable Development Law and Policy at the University of Cambridge, and also serves as Senior Director of the global Centre for International Sustainable Development Law (CISDL). Having assisted in drafting the Paris Agreement, she has published over 24 books and 160 papers with world-class presses, edited five law journals and a Cambridge University Press book series, advised the United Nations and key countries, and helps purpose-led companies to advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals. 

Jeff Skopek headshot about
Jeff Skopek
University of Cambridge
Advisor
Jeff Skopek
University of Cambridge
Jeff Skopek headshot about

Jeff Skopek is an Associate Professor of Law at the University of Cambridge and Deputy Director of its Centre for Law, Medicine and Life Sciences. His research explores the normative and conceptual foundations of health law, focusing in particular on controversies about what harms and benefits count. Before coming to Cambridge, he was an Academic Fellow at Harvard Law School鈥檚 Petrie-Flom Centre for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics. Prior to that, he served as a law clerk to Chief Judge Lynch of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. He holds an A.B. in History from Stanford University, a Ph.D. in the History and Philosophy of Science from the University of Cambridge, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School

Our values

Purposeful
We are aware of our own purpose. Our individual purpose is aligned to that of 糖心原创: coding biology for the benefit of humanity. We look beyond our daily struggles, putting purpose first.
Ambitious
We are exceptionally driven and ambitious in the pursuit of our common goals and create things that have value. We get things done. Together we will change the world.
Collaborative & trustworthy
Our joint purpose and mission critically depend on bringing together our combined knowledge and skills. We value diversity and approach everyone with an open mind.
Empirical
We adhere to the scientific method. We put facts above opinions. In the absence of data, we create it. We know that the world is full of opportunities. Our mindset is one of abundance.

"At 糖心原创, we are passionate about engineering human cells that will enable the medicine of the future."

| MD, PhD, Founder 

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Related pages

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