Celltheon
Celltheon is a contract research organization specializing in cell line development and protein expression for complex biologics and difficult-to-express proteins, serving 100+ global pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients with its proprietary CHO-K1 based CELLTHEON SMART™ platform and OmniCHO™ transient kit.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2012
- HeadquartersUnion City, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Celltheon does
Celltheon Corporation is a privately held cell line development and contract research company founded in 2012 and headquartered in Union City, California. The company builds and applies a proprietary CHO-K1 based protein expression platform — branded as the CELLTHEON SMART™ Expression Platform — to help pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients produce complex biologics, difficult-to-express proteins (DEPs), bispecifics, heterodimeric IgGs, biosimilars, and other challenging antibody formats. The platform integrates multiple internally developed and trademarked technologies: SUPERCELL™ engineered host cells (with custom KO/KI capabilities), pCT™ vectors incorporating CT STABILIZER™ and SIREN Promoter™ genetic elements, GOLDILOCKS TRANSPOSASE™ for stable cell line generation, CHROMASelect™ clone screening (evaluating over 100 million clones for titer, glycoforms, aggregation, and clipping), and SMART BIOPROCESSING™ for upstream and downstream optimization.
The company's commercial offering spans end-to-end biologics development services — developability optimization, transient production, stable cell line development (with claimed >8 g/L titers and 4.5 months to Research Cell Bank), upstream and downstream process development, biochemical and biological analytics, GLP-compliant tox material production up to 100 g per batch, and tech transfer to CDMOs — and, as of October 2024, a catalog product, the OmniCHO™ Transient Kit, the company's first off-the-shelf CHO-K1 transient expression system.
Revenue derives primarily from custom, quote-based contract services sold through direct enterprise field sales to pharma and biotech clients (100+ global clients served cumulatively, with 1000+ therapeutic proteins developed since inception). The October 2024 OmniCHO launch introduces a transactional kit revenue stream, with pricing not publicly disclosed. Distribution is direct (via email orders and HubSpot contact forms), with channel partnerships through CDMOs for downstream GMP manufacturing and Sepragen Corporation for chromatography equipment. The team of 11–50 is led by founder/CEO Amita Goel (25+ years pharma experience at Elan Pharmaceuticals and Arresto Biosciences/Gilead), supported by a CTO and a scientific advisory board drawn from Genentech, Gilead, Pfizer, Amgen, Eli Lilly, and other major biopharma organizations.
Celltheon firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Celltheon
- Legal name
- Celltheon Corporation
- Website
- https://celltheon.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2012
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Celltheon is a contract research organization specializing in cell line development and protein expression for complex biologics and difficult-to-express proteins, serving 100+ global pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients with its proprietary CHO-K1 based CELLTHEON SMART™ platform and OmniCHO™ transient kit.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Celltheon industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Biologics Contract Development & Manufacturing Services
- NAICS
- Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714), Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)
- SIC
- Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Biologics (mAbs/Recombinant Proteins) CDMO (HLAGABAC)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Cell Processing & Ancillary Materials (media, cytokines, beads, vectors, disposables) (HLAAABAH)
Keywords
Where Celltheon is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Union City
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Celltheon business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Custom Contract Services: End-to-end biologics development services including cell line development, process development, analytical characterization, GLP bioproduction, and tech transfer. Services are custom-tailored to each client's drug program with pricing based on project scope and complexity.
- OmniCHO™ Transient Kit Sales: Sale of OmniCHO Transient Expression Kit containing vectors, cells, media, and transfection agent. Kit is sold as a unit product for customers conducting transient expression workflows.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | OmniCHO Transient Kit - Single Unit |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels3 records
Celltheon product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Celltheon provides custom contract development and manufacturing services for complex biologics, including cell line development, upstream/downstream process development, analytical characterization, GLP bioproduction, and tech transfer. The company leverages a proprietary CHO-K1 based protein expression platform (CELLTHEON SMART Expression Platform) powered by engineered SUPERCELLs, pCT vectors, GOLDILOCKS transposase, CHROMASelect screening, and SMART BIOPROCESSING. Celltheon also sells the OmniCHO Transient Expression Kit as a standalone commercial product for customers performing in-house transient expression.
Product overview
Celltheon offers a portfolio of commercial products and an integrated service platform for complex biologics development and manufacturing. OmniCHO™ is a commercial transient expression kit (the first high-performance CHO-K1 transient kit), while the CELLTHEON SMART™ Expression Platform is a universal preclinical development platform supporting all protein formats. The platform is powered by proprietary technologies including SUPERCELL™ engineered CHO cells, pCT™ Vectors (with CT STABILIZER™ and SIREN Promoter™), GOLDILOCKS TRANSPOSASE™, CHROMASelect™ screening (>100M clones), and SMART BIOPROCESSING™. The company provides end-to-end services spanning developability optimization, transient production, cell line development (5-10g/L titers), upstream/downstream process development, analytical characterization, GLP bioproduction (up to 100g/batch), and tech transfer. Services support multiple protein formats including IgG, heterodimeric IgG, tandem scFv, bispecific Fc fusion, and single chain homotrimer.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- CELLTHEON SMART™ Expression Platform: A universal platform for all protein formats including IgG, heterodimeric IgG, tandem scFv, bispecific Fc fusion, and single chain homotrimer.
- OmniCHO™
- SUPERCELL™
- pCT™ Vectors
- GOLDILOCKS TRANSPOSASE™
- CHROMASelect™
- SMART BIOPROCESSING™
Products and services
- OmniCHO Transient Kit First high-performance CHO-K1 based transient expression kit (vectors, cells, media, transfection agent) for customers performing in-house transient expression workflows, achieving transient titers up to 4.5 g/L with up to 14x improvement over market-leading transient kits for mAbs and >20x improvement for difficult-to-express proteins.
- CELLTHEON SMART Expression Platform (Custom Contract Services) Universal preclinical development platform supporting all protein formats (IgG, heterodimeric IgG, tandem scFv, bispecific Fc fusion, single chain homotrimer) with integrated cell line development, process development, analytical characterization, GLP bioproduction, and tech transfer services for biopharma clients developing complex biologics.
- Cell Line Development Service High-titer stable cell line development achieving >8 g/L clones and >3 g/L pools, stable clones stable for >60 generations, with delivery of 4.5 months to RCB or 6 months with full upstream/downstream process development.
- Upstream Process Development Service Robust upstream process development using stirred-tank bioreactors with 100% reproducibility in ≥200L STR bioreactors, including CQA optimization for charge variants, N-glycan, truncation, and aggregation.
- Downstream Process Development Service Scalable 3-4 column chromatography process development optimized for high yield and purity, including viral inactivation, filtration, clarification, and formulation via TFF.
- Developability Optimization Service Assessment and optimization of protein developability properties to improve downstream processing success.
- Transient Production Service Rapid production, purification, and characterization of hundreds of protein variants with average mAb titers of 2.0 gm/L in 4-5 day culture using CHO and HEK293 cells.
- Biochemical Analytics Service High-resolution analytical method development including SE-HPLC, LAL endotoxin, titer, ELISA, RP-HPLC, HIC-HPLC, CEX-HPLC, N-Glycan HILIC-HPLC, and kinetics assays.
- Biological Activity Assay Development Service Cell-based assay development including FACS, cytokine release, cell killing assays, ADCC, CDC, transwell, and custom assays for biological activity characterization.
- Tox Material Production Service GLP production of high-quality tox study materials with stirred-tank bioreactors up to 100 grams per production batch and low endotoxin (<0.05 EU/mg).
- Tech Transfer Service Seamless technology transfer of manufacturing processes to CDMOs with GMP-ready BOM, continuous SME support, and 100% successful process reproducibility.
Quantifiable outcome
- Up to 4.5 g/L transient titers (OmniCHO)
- +9 more outcomes
Companies that use Celltheon
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments1 record
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Celltheon technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature7 records
Celltheon partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and strategic.
- Sepragen CorporationcoreSepragen Corporation provides bio-processing equipment and consumables for protein production and purification. Their technology, covered by 16 patents, is used globally by leading pharma companies. Sepragen's equipment enables Celltheon to expand its biomanufacturing capabilities. Founder/CEO Vinit Saxena serves as Celltheon advisor on chromatography.
- Keck Graduate InstitutestrategicAmita Goel is an ABCAB Board Member at Keck Graduate Institute. Dr. Parviz Shamlou previously served as Director of the Amgen Bioprocessing Center at Keck Graduate Institute. Collaborative relationship through board involvement and advisory roles.
- Contract Development and Manufacturing Organizations (CDMOs)coreCelltheon supports tech transfer to CDMOs for GMP clinical production. Claims 100% process reproducibility in ≥200L STR bioreactors at partner manufacturing sites. Continuous SME support during entire project lifecycle.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Celltheon competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- GenScript ProBio: GenScript ProBio is the CDMO arm of GenScript, offering end-to-end biologics development from cell line construction through GMP manufacturing for mAbs, bsAbs, and recombinant proteins. It is a broader incumbent with similar services but at larger scale and broader geographic reach.
- AGC Biologics: AGC Biologics is a global CDMO offering mammalian cell line development, process development, and GMP manufacturing for biologics. It competes with Celltheon on cell line and process development but at substantially larger scale across multiple sites.
- Catalent Biologics: Catalent is a major global CDMO providing cell line development, bioprocess development, and GMP manufacturing for biologics. It is comparable as a broad incumbent serving the same enterprise biopharma customers with overlapping upstream services.
- Samsung Biologics: Samsung Biologics is a top-tier global CDMO offering cell line development, process development, and large-scale GMP biologics manufacturing services. It competes with Celltheon as a much larger incumbent serving the same biopharma client base.
- WuXi Biologics: WuXi Biologics is a leading global biologics CDMO with end-to-end capabilities from cell line development through commercial manufacturing. It is a broad incumbent competing for the same biologics development projects as Celltheon across global biopharma.
- Lonza Biologics: Lonza is one of the world's largest biologics CDMOs, offering comprehensive cell line construction (e.g., GS Xceed), process development, and large-scale GMP manufacturing. It overlaps with Celltheon on cell line development and process development for mAbs and recombinant proteins.
Emerging players
- AbCellera: AbCellera is a clinical-stage biotech and antibody discovery platform with proprietary technology for identifying and engineering antibodies, including cell line and expression capabilities for difficult-to-express biologics. It is comparable as a technology-driven biologics platform with selective CDMO-like service offerings.
Direct peers
- ATUM: ATUM (formerly DNA2.0) is a direct peer offering proprietary cell line development and protein expression tools, including its Leap-In Transposase system and CHO/HEK platforms. It competes head-to-head with Celltheon on CHO-based expression technology and synthetic biology services for biologics developers.
- LakePharma (Curia): LakePharma, now part of Curia, provides contract biologics development and manufacturing services including cell line development, process development, and analytical characterization for mAbs and recombinant proteins. It overlaps directly with Celltheon's end-to-end biologics services offering.
- KBI Biologics: KBI Biologics is a contract development and manufacturing organization specializing in mammalian cell line development, process development, and cGMP biomanufacturing for mAbs and recombinant proteins. It is a close comparable as a mid-sized biologics CDMO competing for similar biopharma customers.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Celltheon social profiles
Digital presenceCelltheon financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Celltheon leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles12 records
Celltheon funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Celltheon M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Celltheon
What does Celltheon do?
Celltheon provides custom contract development and manufacturing services for complex biologics, including cell line development, upstream/downstream process development, analytical characterization, GLP bioproduction, and tech transfer. The company leverages a proprietary CHO-K1 based protein expression platform (CELLTHEON SMART Expression Platform) powered by engineered SUPERCELLs, pCT vectors, GOLDILOCKS transposase, CHROMASelect screening, and SMART BIOPROCESSING. Celltheon also sells the OmniCHO Transient Expression Kit as a standalone commercial product for customers performing in-house transient expression.
Is Celltheon a public or private company?
Celltheon is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Celltheon founded?
Celltheon was founded in 2012. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Celltheon based?
Celltheon is headquartered in Union City, United States, in the North America region.
How does Celltheon make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Custom Contract Services are the primary driver. The others are omniCHO™ Transient Kit Sales.
Who are Celltheon's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are GenScript ProBio, AGC Biologics, Catalent Biologics, Samsung Biologics, WuXi Biologics and Lonza Biologics. AbCellera is listed as an emerging player. Direct peers are ATUM, LakePharma (Curia) and KBI Biologics.
Does Celltheon have an API?
No public API is recorded for Celltheon.
What industry is Celltheon in?
Celltheon's product category is Biologics Contract Development & Manufacturing Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HLAGABAC, Biologics (mAbs/Recombinant Proteins) CDMO, with a secondary code of HLAAABAH, Cell Processing & Ancillary Materials (media, cytokines, beads, vectors, disposables). Its NAICS code is 541714 and its SIC code is 8731.